Come With Me
by BrittzandTana
Summary: Cross-posted from Ao3. Clarke Griffin decides to go to London, hoping that she can escape the problems happening in her life, and meets a temporary companion, Lexa. On a job that'll take her across Europe, Lexa is adventurous and stunning and fills Clarke with an adrenaline that she hasn't felt in a long time. And well... things happen. AU CLEXA! CLARKE/LEXA! ENDGAME!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello my beautifuls! If you follow me on Ao3 at ToriWritesStories, you'll probably have read this story before. But I know that some people don't read on there, and I also want to have my stories in multiple places because I want as many people to be able to read them if they want :) So I'm reposting this here. I will try my best to post 3 chapters a day, and that way it will take 8 days for the whole story to go up. Then, I will post the sequel on here as well, and I'll probably do 2 chapters a day for that or something and it'll take 10 days. Anyway, this story is completely finished on Ao3, but there it is again ;)**

* * *

Dragging her single suitcase behind her and keeping her backpack slung over her shoulder, Clarke Griffin boarded the hotel bus that would take her from the London Airport to the place that she was going to stay at for a handful of days. Despite really having no plans, she was trying to stay somewhat organized with what she was actually doing, which was really the only reason that she had booked a hotel beforehand in the first place. However, that was about as far ahead that she had thought at all.

So she shoved her suitcase into the window seat about midway through the bus, dropping her backpack on top of it as well before taking the middle seat of the three on that side of the aisle. It was a pretty big bus, though so far there were hardly any people on it. It was only supposed to be a twenty minute ride from the airport to the hotel, but Clarke tried to make herself comfortable anyway. However, as she relaxed into her seat and began to untangle her earphones, a guy probably just a few years older than her decided to sit in the seat directly next to her, despite the bus being nearly entirely empty.

"Hello," he greeted with a wide smile.

"Hi," Clarke muttered, wishing she could just be alone and ride to the hotel in peace. It was about midnight, and after the day's events, all she wanted to do was curl up in fresh sheets and sleep, even if her day had been short due to the plane ride.

"What brings you to London?"

Clarke sighed, already frustrated by his questioning as she answered vaguely, "Stuff." A few other people began to board the bus, and Clarke hoped that once the bus started to move, the guy would realize that she didn't feel like talking. It seemed odd that he hadn't, because Clarke was sure that her face displayed her dismay.

"Ah, I see. I'm visiting my family," he said, "though, they don't have enough room for me in their house. Hence why I'm in need of a hotel."

"Cool," Clarke muttered, her hands absentmindedly playing with her phone.

"How long are you staying for? It seems kind of strange that you're here all by yourself. You getting a room by yourself?" he questioned, and Clarke took in a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say to avoid answering his stupid questions and somehow get him to realize that she didn't want to be bothered.

Suddenly, though, a female voice answered him, "Do you mind moving seats?"

He looked up at the girl as Clarke did and asked, as if challenged, "Why shouldn't I sit here?" The girl looking down at him had long, wavy brown hair and intense green eyes that Clarke found herself suddenly lost in. She had a strong air of confidence about her. "Because that's my girlfriend that you've got your beady eyes all over."

Though Clarke was surprised by the lie, she forced herself not to react so as to avoid undoing the help that the stranger had just provided her with. The guy next to her turned to look back at Clarke, as if waiting for her to deny the statement. Clarke just blinked, unsure of what to say, if anything at all, and he finally just grunted and got up, moving to the back of the bus. Once he was seated and looking elsewhere, the brunette sat in the window seat across the aisle, not even looking toward the blonde. "Hey, thanks," Clarke spoke up, and green eyes suddenly jumped over to look at the source of the voice.

She smiled sweetly and said, "Don't worry about it."

Now free from conversations, Clarke shoved her earphones into her ears and began blaring her music, trying to stay awake as the bus finally started moving.

She failed, however, and a soft voice woke her twenty or so minutes later. "Hey, you sleeping in a hotel room tonight, or the bus?"

Clarke's eyes flickered open and were immediately focused on her brunette savior looking down at her from the aisle, with her backpack equipped and another bag next to her. They seemed to be the last to get off of the bus, which was waiting for them to do so and go into the hotel. "Oh, thanks."

The girl just chuckled and said, "Sure." She started off of the bus, and Clarke quickly gathered up her things and followed. She gave a quick thanks to the hotel bus driver, since she felt bad for making him wait on her, and then finally went into the hotel.

She had to wait for three other people, the strange brunette girl and the guy from earlier included, before she could check in. Once they had checked in and disappeared, Clarke finally got her key card and went up to her room in a rush.

It was small, but fresh white sheets and soft pillows awaited her on the queen sized bed, so she dropped her bags and slipped off her shoes and collapsed into the bed, instantly falling asleep.

* * *

Despite how tired she'd been when she fell asleep, Clarke woke up early since she'd only technically been awake for about eleven hours the previous day, due to time zones. She had thought that she would wake up at noon or later, but by ten in the morning, she found herself showered, made up a bit, and heading down a level in the hotel to go to the buffet breakfast with her messenger bag – which had been shoved into her suitcase for later use – slung over her body.

She'd intentionally chosen a hotel with free breakfast, because she was on a bit of a budget and since she really had no plans, she wanted to be a bit tight with her cash. That's what she was using – cash. She didn't want to use her card for particular reasons, for the same reasons that she was avoiding her social media accounts and all of the text messages that she kept feeling her phone receive now that it was no longer in airplane mode.

Once at the breakfast buffet area near the lobby of the hotel, Clarke felt her stomach growl angrily and she instantly started filling a plate with food.

There was only one table to sit down at, so she set herself up there and began to eat. As she ate, she became aware of the brunette she had encountered the previous night entering the buffet area. She scooped some food onto her plate, and then her green eyes were bouncing around the full tables, trying to find one that was empty. Clarke knew that she would be unsuccessful, so when that entrapping gaze found hers, she offered a kind smile, and the girl hesitantly approached her.

"There aren't any open tables," Clarke said as the girl approached, "and you're welcome to sit here. I probably won't be long anyway."

The girl nodded silently, sitting across the blonde. "Thanks."

"I do owe you one," Clarke reasoned, going back to her meal. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she resisted the urge to check it. She couldn't check it, or she might be tempted to reply. Instead, she took another bite of her breakfast, wondering briefly what she was going to do once she left the hotel. She was near the main area of London that she wanted to be at, but she may need to take the tube to get anywhere cool. Not that she really had anywhere she wanted to go aside from a general idea.

The brunette now sitting opposite of her was scrolling through something on her phone, and Clarke felt suddenly quite awkward without her phone in her hand, but she couldn't look at it. It wouldn't help. Instead, she opted for trying to start a conversation, because why not? She'd probably never see this girl ever again if she did somehow make a fool out of herself.

"Have you been to London before?"

Green eyes flickered up to look at Clarke, and the girl smiled pleasantly. "Yeah, five years ago. How about you?"

Shaking her head, the blonde replied, "No, I haven't."

"What brings you here?"

"Spontaneity," Clarke answered, for lack of a better answer and since she didn't feel like explaining her whole situation to a stranger who probably didn't even really care.

"Going to see the sights?"

Clarke shrugged. "I suppose."

"I'm taking the tube to the Big Ben," the girl said, "to take pictures. I'm kind of here for a work commission thing." She paused, and then said, "If your spontaneity hasn't let you make any plans, I could use company."

Clarke was slightly surprised at the offer, but she found herself surprisingly wanting to join her brunette savior. "Sure," she agreed. "Maybe that way I won't be roaming around like a lost tourist."

The girl smiled softly. "I'm Lexa."

"Clarke," the blonde returned, suddenly very intrigued by this girl – Lexa. However, she avoided asking questions, because since she herself wouldn't be up to offering up information about herself, it would be unfair of her to expect Lexa to give her anything. So the rest of their breakfast was silent, until they were both done and Lexa gave her another smile.

"Are you ready to go now?"

Clarke nodded, and after they both put their plates in the used plates pile at the end of the buffet, Clarke found herself following the stranger out of the hotel. Her eyes immediately started bouncing around the city surrounding her. She had been far too exhausted the previous night to actually pay attention to any of it, even though she was sure that it had been lit up from the tall buildings around her. "Wow," she found herself murmuring.

"Pretty awesome, isn't it?" Lexa commented, and Clarke felt the green gaze on her as she nodded. "Come on, I'm pretty sure I know where the nearest subway station is."

Clarke began following Lexa down the sidewalk, but her gaze was glued on the city around her. It was so different from what she was used to – so many of the buildings were older and majestic looking. Not like Washington DC, where she was from. Some things there, like the white house and Lincoln's memorial, were fairly old looking. But not like this place. After a few moments, she realized that Lexa was a good few paces in front of her, and she picked up her speed to catch up to her. "How are you not in like... awe?"

Lexa flashed the blonde a teasing smile and answered, "Well, if I was, we would both end up wandering around like lost tourists."

"I see, you're one of those responsible people," Clarke replied playfully, pleased when she noticed the smile on Lexa's face widen.

"Guilty. Though I can't say its the worst thing about me." Lexa turned a corner and Clarke kept matching her pace to the other girl's.

"So, you take pictures as your job?" Clarke wondered.

Lexa shrugged. "Sometimes. I technically have a different job at home, but every now and then I get photo commissions."

"And they pay enough for you to go to Europe to do them?" Clarke asked, actually very surprised. The brunette just shrugged one of her shoulders, flashing the blonde a mysterious look, and Clarke took that to mean that she'd asked too many questions.

That's why she answered the question that came from the other girl a moment later, "What job do you have that you can spontaneously take a trip to Europe?"

"I'm a bartender," Clarke replied, though she offered no further explanation, and Lexa didn't ask for any.

"I don't see it," Lexa commented, quirking an eyebrow up but not looking to the other girl, whose eyebrows furrowed.

"What? Don't think I'm cool enough to make drinks?"

Lexa just flashed the girl a teasing smile and nodded suddenly to a set of stairs going down to the underground. "Come on."

Clarke had been on subways before, but the tube was something unlike anything she'd experienced. It was really impressive, actually, and she found herself struggling to keep up with Lexa's fast strides.

Paying for access to the tube and actually getting to the desired train was all a blur for her, and she was honestly amazed at how she'd managed to stay behind Lexa the whole time. Finally, though, they ended up sitting in a crowded subway train next to one another, on their way to Parliament Square. Neither of them said anything as they first settled into their seats, but Lexa ended up being the first to speak. "Is it what you expected?"

"London?" Clarke asked, looking at Lexa with slight surprise at the question. When she received a nod, she shook her head. "I mean... I don't know. I didn't really expect much. I kind of came here on a whim."

"Right, spontaneity," Lexa recalled, smiling a half smile.

Clarke nodded, returning the smile and suddenly feeling her phone go off into a burst of vibrations again. She hoped that Lexa didn't notice, and if she did, she said nothing about it. Clarke continued to ignore the device that she was usually so connected to.

When they got to Parliament Square, Clarke found herself blown away. She saw the Big Ben, firstly, but the city itself captured her attention easily. "Wow," she murmured. They'd just come from the underground, and Lexa was fumbling with the bag she'd been clutching the whole time. She retrieved a nice looking camera from it, and then she offered the blonde an apologetic smile. "I've gotta take some pictures. It'll be a little while."

Clarke just nodded. "I'll just explore." Lexa started off to wherever it was she was taking pictures from, and Clarke found herself roaming away from the Big Ben and just walking. She tried to absorb everything around her as she walked, and ended up crossing the Westminster Bridge, her gaze stuck on the massive London Eye.

She wanted to ride it, but once she saw the line, full of people who had other people to ride with, she slunk away from it and found herself sitting on a little bench.

What had she been thinking, coming to London? She knew nothing about this place – other than the Big Ben and the London Eye, she really knew very little about what was actually in the city. Go figure, she hardly paid attention in any of her geography or history classes ever. She could probably have fun, though, were she with one of her best friends or someone else.

Her mind briefly though of Lexa, but she shook it from her head. She'd only just met Lexa, and the girl seemed to have her life together. She was here for work, no other reason. And no matter whether she'd found a temporary companion or not, Clarke knew that there was no way that she could stay in the city for more than a handful of days. The cash she had with her could last her maybe a week max, with hotel and food expenses considered on top of transportation. She would end up with very little to spend on actual cool things, anyway.

All she could really do was reach into her messenger bag and retrieve her sketchbook. She hadn't come to Europe to draw, but she had come to get away from her every day world and life. And if drawing was what would get her that, then she would draw.

She drew the view. The London Eye off one side of the paper, and the Thames River, with the Westminster Bridge across it and the Big Ben off in the background. It was a really rough sketch – something that Clarke would never show anyone – but it helped distract her. Once she sketch was done, she tried to make it better, but it still looked far too unstable.

When she finally gave up and slid the sketchbook back into her messenger bag, possibly an hour or so later, she looked up at the area in front of her and noticed a familiar head of wavy, brown hair next to the railing that overlooked the Thames. Clarke tilted her head, watching her snap pictures on her camera. The feeling that had come over her earlier – the intrigued, curious feeling – returned to Clarke as she watched her.

When Lexa was done snapping that round of pictures, she looked down at her camera, her hand held over her eyes to block out the natural light, even though it was fairly cloudy out, so that she could see the screen. Clarke wondered if it would be considered creepy that she was just watching the girl, but concluded that since Lexa hadn't noticed, it was okay.

Lexa didn't notice at all, actually, that Clarke was sitting there, even as she started glancing around, like she was wondering what to do or where to go next. "Hey there, stranger," Clarke called, drawing the brunette's attention easily, "you lost?"

Lexa shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and started toward the blonde.

"Tourists these days," Clarke teased, shaking her head with a smile spread across her face.

"Did you ride the eye?" Lexa wondered, tilting her head. Clarke shook her head, and suddenly found a soft hand closing around her own and pulling her up and off of the bench. She felt her breath hitch slightly in her throat, surprised by the contact. "You're coming with me then. I need to go up."

"How much are tickets?"

"I think it's like twenty-eight pounds or something like that," Lexa answered, releasing Clarke's hand as they started toward the building where ticket purchases were done. Clarke opened her bag and found her wallet, pulling out a wad of the cash she had with her. Lexa noticed the amount of cash and her eyes widened slightly, but she didn't question the use of paper money over a card.

When they got into the building, they had to wait in a short line, but soon they both had their tickets onto the massive ferris wheel. "Whose idea was it to build a ferris wheel that big?" Clarke asked as they exited the building and started toward the attraction.

"Beat's me," Lexa replied. "It's amazing, though."

"You need to take pictures from up there?" Clarke wondered, and the brunette nodded. "You've planned out your photo route pretty well, it seems."

Lexa flashed her an amused smile. "I've got a commission for an art studio for an exhibit. Five years ago, I took a tour of Europe and photographed all sorts of things and places, popular ones and less obvious ones. The idea is, I come back now and take them again. It'll make a cool exhibit, I think. So I kind of have certain pictures of take."

"That's actually really cool," Clarke admitted as she and Lexa fell into the back of the line to get on the eye.

It actually wasn't too long until they got into one of the glass pods, since they were so big. When the ferris wheel started moving again, so slowly and magnificently, Clarke found herself entranced by the view. On the whole way to the top, Lexa was at one end of the pod, taking pictures through the glass, while Clarke just stood and stared out at the city. When it reached the top, however, Clarke made her way over to the brunette, who had stopped taking photos.

"This is incredible," she admitted.

"It really is," Lexa agreed. "Honestly, I feel like everything in Europe is so much more amazing than anything in America. I mean, we have some nice things but... it's just so incredible here."

"I used to think that the white house had nice architecture," Clarke said, her eyes glued on the beautiful structures all around her.

"Are you from DC?" Lexa questioned, and Clarke blinked. She decided that it hardly mattered if Lexa knew where she was from, so she nodded. "That's cool. I've been a few times. I live in New York City."

"Oh cool," Clarke said, tilting her head a little, "New York's cool."

Lexa just nodded and then looked back over the city around them. "London is amazing, but I like the look of Paris better."

"I've never been," Clarke admitted, though she assumed that Lexa had figured that already.

"I'm going in a few days," the brunette said, "to take pictures of course. I like the atmosphere a bit more. I'm kind of a sucker for big cities, too, so."

Clarke smiled at the brunette. "I wish I could see it, but I'm probably going to end up going home after a handful of days. I don't really know what I'm even doing here." Lexa didn't say anything in response, as if she knew that Clarke didn't really want to talk about it.

They were silent as the glass pod began to head down the opposite side of the wheel, though the rest of the people in there with them were chattering happily and excitedly. They only spoke again when they realized that a camera on the side of the ferris wheel was supposed to take a picture of the whole group of people there. "Well," Lexa said, glancing toward where everyone was gathering for the picture, "I think right now, what you're doing here is taking a picture. Come on."

Clarke felt a small smile appear on her face as Lexa grabbed her hand and pulled her over to where the group was standing. She released her hand for the actual picture, but Clarke wore a genuine smile when the picture was actually taken.

They stopped for lunch somewhere, but they didn't talk much at all. It was a peaceful silence between them, and it was like there was a mutual understanding that they didn't need to say anything. It wasn't like they were becoming close at all. They were two Americans alone in London, being each others' temporary companions for the day. Probably just that day, too. There really wasn't a point in talking. Lexa was heading into Paris in a few days, and Clarke would be forced to return home.

After their lunch, Lexa had to take the tube to the edge of the city, and Clarke decided to go back to the hotel. The brunette kindly gave her directions through the underground to get on the right train back, and then they gave each other a goodbye that could either be seen as temporary or permanent, and went their opposite ways.

Clarke found herself back in her hotel room feeling slightly tired. The day hadn't been bad by any means, but it felt like a false sense of happiness. The idea of returning home was daunting, and it was presently leaning right over her shoulder, trying to get to her.

It's what made her finally look at her phone, at all of the notifications that she'd received throughout the day.

Ten from her mom, twenty in a group message with some of her friends, about five from each of those friends individually. And those were just text messages. She had at least fifty total alerts from her other social media apps, but she clicked on none of them, and she didn't read any of the text messages. She didn't want to, and she took control of herself and plugged her phone into her charger, connected to the wall via an adapter. Then she curled up in her bed with her sketchbook and started drawing.

It started raining at some point, little drops of water landing on the large window that was at one end of the room. She glanced through the glass out of the corner of her eye and saw the cloudy, dreary city of London, and she felt a smile appear on her face. It was peaceful, for some reason.

That's how she found herself falling asleep way earlier than she probably should've, listening to the sound of the city and the rain and wishing that she would never have to go back home.


	2. Chapter 2

The following day, Clarke woke up to even more messages on her phone, though less than the previous day. It was early in the morning that she awoke, since she'd gone to sleep so early the previous day. It was six in the morning, an hour before breakfast would even start being served in the lobby of the hotel.

She had no idea what to do with her day, or herself in general. So she started off with a shower, got ready for her unplanned day, and by the time she was done, she could head downstairs for breakfast. The eating area was empty this early, so she had no trouble sitting down and enjoying a breakfast. Midway through it, she felt her phone receiving a phone call.

She didn't look at it.

Instead, she finished her breakfast and then left the hotel. She considered taking the tube to another part of the city, but she didn't really trust herself to get back easily, and so she opted for walking around this part of the city instead. It was hard for her to find things to do, so she mostly ended up slipping into small stores and checking out things for sale – things she was tempted to buy but didn't, since she was on a budget. If she really was going to end up going home in the next few days, she figured it would be best that she have some money leftover from the amount she'd brought with her.

She did buy one thing, though, something to remember her trip by, she supposed. Just a little necklace, with a circular pendant that displayed the Big Ben, encased in a little glass bubble. It was pretty, but not too expensive, so it was perfect.

When she left the store where she'd purchased it, she found her mind wondering what Lexa was doing. By then, it was nearing ten in the morning, so the brunette was probably awake. Clarke was sure that she had pictures to take and whatnot, but she wondered if she'd been expecting Clarke to come with her again. Probably not, since they'd said a proper goodbye the previous night, and there really was no point in it.

Still, Clarke wondered where in the city she was – not that her directionally challenged, especially in an unknown city, self would be able to identify the name of any place. When she found herself unable to shake the question, she took a seat at one of the benches she found along the sidewalk and pulled her sketchbook out of her messenger bag, beginning to sketch the street in front of her. It was a bit of a challenge, since people and cars were moving, so she had to improvise a little bit. That wasn't a problem, though, because she usually improvised her drawings. It was more fun, and she liked challenging herself to draw with only a reference in her head.

She drew for hours, actually, and at twelve-thirty realized that she was getting pretty unreasonably hungry. Tucking away her sketchbook, she quickly scanned the area for anywhere to fill her empty stomach.

She managed to find a place, a little Italian place at the end of the street. It felt weird to be seated and ordering food for just herself, with no company. She pulled out her phone multiple times throughout her lonely lunch, but she kept herself from texting or calling any of her friends, or her mom. She didn't need to, and she didn't want to.

It was good for her to be alone. That's what she needed, and that's why she was even in London in the first place.

After her lunch, she surprised herself by taking out her phone and opening up her camera. She wasn't really big on taking pictures, but she slid her thumb across the camera, changing it to video mode. Walking down the street a bit so that she was further from people, she hit record and began talking to her camera.

"Hey, guys," she said, pretending as though she were talking to her friends and her mom, "I'm in London right now. It's pretty nice. Though I think I'm lost, now that I look around. I'll have to walk back to my hotel – this is why I didn't take the tube. Which is crazy, by the way, there are so many people. Probably why I've never been big on public transportation. Anyway, I was on it yesterday, because this girl who is staying at the same hotel as me invited me to go with her. She's needed to take pictures or something. We went on the London Eye – you know, the ferris wheel? It was pretty cool, actually. I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights, though, because that whole thing was made of fucking glass. The view was awesome."

She paused, and let out a sigh.

"I don't know why I'm making this video. I'm not going to send it to you guys. I probably won't show you even when I get home. You'll probably never see this. I just hope you guys understand why I'm here. If you don't, I guess you will have to one day. I'll probably be back in a few days. I don't know what else I'll do." She took in a breath. "Bye."

She shut off the video, wondering why she even bothered with the video. She wasn't going to send it to anyone right now, that was for sure, and by the time she got home, there would be no point in showing it to the people it was meant for. At that point, she could say it all to them in person.

She wasn't looking forward to that.

Deciding that she would just head back to her hotel room at this point, Clarke started trying to figure her way back. It was ultimately a good decision, considering that it took her quite a while to get back to the hotel, after stopping multiple times to check out more little stores and such. She ended up finally back at around four in the afternoon.

What she would do with the rest of her day was a mystery, but she absentmindedly walked over to the elevator that would take her up to her floor and slipped inside once it opened. No one else was around, but as the doors began to slide shut, someone called, "Hold the elevator, please!"

Clarke recognized the voice as she stuck her hand between the doors, causing them to grudgingly open again, and she saw Lexa rushing toward the elevator. "Hey there," Clarke said, her lips turning up into a small smile.

"Oh, hey, Clarke," Lexa returned, smiling as well as she clicked the number of her floor – the one above Clarke's. "Why aren't you out exploring the city?"

"I've been doing that all day," Clarke admitted, "but I kind of got lost. It took me like two hours to find my way back here. Why aren't you running around taking your pictures?"

"I finished," the brunette admitted. "I managed to get a lot done today, actually. I came back to pack up my stuff, so that I can have some dinner tonight and then leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Clarke nodded. "Off to Paris, then?"

"That's the plan," Lexa replied. "I'll probably check out tomorrow morning after I have some breakfast." There was a pause. "How long are you still in London for?"

"Probably not long," Clarke said, letting out a light breath. "I guess spontaneity isn't really my thing. Kinda have nothing to do here." Lexa gave her a soft smile of understanding, but said nothing else. The elevator stopped at Clarke's floor, and she offered Lexa a small wave.

"Well, assuming I won't see you again... have fun in France."

Lexa nodded, but as the blonde started to step out of the lift, she said suddenly, "Hey, wait." Clarke stopped, looking over her shoulder. "Do you wanna get dinner with me tonight? I found a place I want to go to tonight. If you're leaving London so soon, you may as well have had some fun. Plus, I wouldn't mind getting to have dinner with a beautiful girl before I'm off."

Clarke felt her cheeks flush pink. "Sure."

"I'll meet you in the lobby at seven?"

Nodding, the blonde finally stepped all of the way out of the elevator. The doors quickly closed, and Clarke let out a breath. Her heart rate was definitely increased at hearing the compliment, and at the idea of now having dinner with Lexa.

On one hand, it was stupid for her to agree to have dinner with the girl. After all, they wouldn't ever see each other again after the following day. However, on the other hand, it shouldn't really matter. The point of being in Europe was to be away from home, to be spontaneous. Why shouldn't that include grabbing dinner with Lexa?

Reaching her room, Clarke let herself in and dropped her messenger bag on her bed. She wouldn't need it tonight, she knew, because she mostly only carried it for her sketchbook, and even if she somehow would have time to sketch later, it would be too dark. Stripping off her clothing and stepping into the shower, Clarke felt her heart rate finally returning to a normal pace.

After her shower, she felt a wave of exhaustion come over her, from having woken up so early and walking around so much. Collapsing onto the bed, completely naked, she allowed herself a half hour nap that promptly turned into a two hour nap. She woke up at exactly six, giving her an hour to get ready for her dinner with Lexa.

She wondered briefly if it was a date, and then decided that it obviously was. Lexa had made it sound like it was, of course, but Clarke knew that at the same time, it shouldn't be. She would never see Lexa after tonight.

At six-thirty, her phone began to ring with a call from her mom – she only noticed the caller ID since the device was sitting face up on the bathroom counter, where Clarke was redoing her makeup. If it hadn't come off during the shower, it had definitely become smudged when she took her nap.

She ignored the phone call.

Seven o'clock found the blonde slinging her cross body purse over her shoulder, with her phone and wallet both stuffed into it, and heading out of her hotel room. She'd intentionally avoided arriving downstairs early, because she had a feeling that would result in her running into Lexa in the elevator, and she thought that might be weird.

Why she was thinking into things so much, she had no idea.

"Hey!" Lexa greeted Clarke with a wide smile as she approached her in the lobby. "I didn't feel like the tube, so I called a cab. It should be here soon."

"Okay," Clarke said, kind of glad to not have to take the subway, as they walked out of the hotel to wait for the cab. "Where did you go to take pictures today?"

She had a feeling that the question would set the brunette off talking, and she found a small smile creeping onto her face as she realized that she was right. Lexa started listing off some places that Clarke had never heard of, but was sure were important or at least good places to take pictures. Lexa hadn't come across to her as particularly talkative initially, but at the same time, she didn't find it too weird to see that Lexa liked to talk.

She stopped talking about her photography adventure when the cab got there, though, because she had to name the place for the driver as the two of them climbed into the back seats.

They didn't talk much in the cab, but neither of them really seemed to mind the quiet. It seemed to be a mutual thing between them – sometimes they would just not talk. Clarke had to admit that she found Lexa to be pretty nice company.

When they got to the restaurant, it looked to be a bistro of sorts. "I saw this place today," Lexa offered in explanation, "and it looked pretty good. I was going to come alone, but I always prefer to have company." She flashed the blonde a smile, which was easily returned.

"I don't blame you," Clarke said, following the brunette into the restaurant. "I had lunch by myself today, and it was just kind of awkward."

"Where did you eat?"

"No idea," Clarke answered, laughing lightly. "I'm a little directionally challenged. I kind of just found a place."

They were seated in the little bistro, and menus were placed in front of them. They were asked what drinks they wanted, and both ordered a glass of wine, though Lexa ordered red and Clarke ordered white. Clarke then looked down at her menu to consider what food to buy, and was pleased to see that the prices weren't too high, but then she heard Lexa offer, "I'll pay for you."

"Oh, you don't have to," Clarke objected, glancing up to green eyes, which were focused on her.

"Well, I did invite you out, so it only makes sense," the brunette said, the corners of her lips poking upward, and Clarke gave in.

"Thank you."

The silence that fell between them as they looked through the menus wasn't at all foreboding or tense, it was calm, and it was nice. Clarke was actually surprised when she ended up being the one to break it.

"Are you going to more places than just France?"

Lexa glanced up from her menu, but Clarke only noticed from her peripheral vision, keeping her own gaze focused on the menu. "Yeah, quite a few other countries, actually." When Clarke felt the girl's gaze drop back down, she looked up herself.

"Aren't you tempted to go places that you haven't been before, though?" she wondered.

"Well, yes," Lexa answered, "but it's been years since I was here. The experience of seeing new things is great, but I don't mind coming back to places I've already been. I could come to London once a month and still never get tired of it."

"That makes sense," Clarke reasoned. "Definitely not a feeling I've ever gotten about anywhere. That's probably a sign that I don't want to live in DC, huh?"

Lexa let out a light laugh that made Clarke's heart jump in her chest. "Maybe."

Clarke finally decided what she wanted off of the menu, and set the thing down onto the table, finally looking back up. Lexa seemed to be trying to decide, still, so she didn't say anything else until the brunette set down her menu. "Too bad I'm basically rooted in DC then."

"Grew up there, I assume?" Clarke nodded, but offered no extra information. "I've always liked traveling. New York is a nice place to stay at, though, in my opinion."

Clarke smiled, but ended up not being able to say anything else as a waiter approached them, asking for their orders. They both quickly ordered what they wanted, and the waiter took both of their menus, leaving them alone again.

"How are you getting to Paris?"

"The Eurostar." When Clarke didn't acknowledge the answer, the brunette explained, "It's like a subway that goes under the English Channel and comes up in Paris. It's a little over two hours of a ride. Kinda weird, but cool."

"I'll be honest, I had no idea that existed," Clarke admitted, and an amused smile appeared on Lexa's face. "Though, I think it'd be safe to say that I really know nothing about Europe anyway."

"There's lots to know," Lexa said, "so I'm sure I don't know much more than you do."

Conversation between the two of them was easy, especially since Clarke wasn't too big of a talker, and Lexa seemed to have no problem carrying the conversation once the blonde ran out of questions. It was also nice that Clarke liked listening to Lexa's voice, smooth and yet firm.

When their food arrived, their conversation dropped off to allow for time to eat, and it didn't really rise up again even after they were done eating. They took a cab back to the hotel, but ended up walking through the dark, yet lit up, city streets around the hotel. Something made neither of them want to go their separate ways back in the hotel, even though their conversation at this point was surface level and brief. They mostly walked in silence.

When they did reenter the hotel, Lexa gave Clarke a sweet smile and a thank you, to which Clarke replied that she should be thanking the brunette, since it was her who paid for dinner. And then they exchanged goodbyes, very well believing that it would be their last, even though it was just their second.

Clarke didn't find herself too put off by the whole thing, and ended up curled up in her bed, fast asleep, just an hour after returning to the hotel.

It was the next morning that things felt weird, when she felt a pit in her stomach. It was early – eight in the morning – but it took an hour after Clarke showered and started making herself presentable to realize what was causing her strange mood.

It was Lexa leaving.

Even though Clarke herself would be leaving soon, something was just tugging on her thoughts, about Lexa leaving. She wasn't sure what to do about it – there wasn't anything really. She would just have to start organizing her flight back home, and appreciate the past two days as what they were – a spontaneous distraction from her real life.

She decided to do that after she got food into her stomach, though, and took the elevator down to the lobby with just her phone and her room key in her possession.

Alone, Clarke piled some food onto her plate and found a seat in the back of the breakfast dining area, furthest from the elevator.

Still, though, about five minutes after that, someone was suddenly sitting down across from her. Blue eyes looked up to meet green ones, and Clarke saw Lexa there, with her two bags sitting next to her. She had a small plate in her hand, setting it down on the table, with a little bit of food on it.

"Hi there," Clarke said, surprised.

Lexa replied, "Hi. Sorry for interrupting. I just... didn't want to eat alone."

"Don't worry about it," Clarke insisted, though as they both fell silent again, something was clearly hanging in the air between them. As she took another bite of her food, she found that she was suddenly not feeling very hungry. "You about to leave?"

"Yep."

"Cool." They were silent again for a moment, and then Clarke finally let out a breath. "Give me your phone."

"Why?"

"So I can put my number in it. In case you get bored, alone during your long Europe adventure."

Lexa was looking at Clarke curiously, and and the blonde wondered what she was thinking about. She was making no move to pass her phone over to the blonde. The brunette pursed her pink lips together, and she averted her gaze for a moment before returning it. Clarke was about to ask her what was wrong, but then she said, "I have a better idea."

Clarke blinked. "What?"

"Come with me."


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke leaned her head against the glass, a feeling of excitement and yet nervousness filling her to the brim. She knew that her heart hadn't stopped racing for even a moment in the past two hours.

 _"Come with me."_

 _Clarke blinked again, her eyes widening. "What?"_

 _"To France."_

 _"I... I can't..."_

 _Lexa's green eyes were sparkling with something like mischief, and she quirked up an eyebrow and asked, "Why not?"_

 _Clarke didn't really have an answer for her, it just seemed obvious that she couldn't. "I... I have a life to get back to..."_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Well, I'm pretty sure that with that wad of cash you're carrying around with you, you were not at all intending for just a two day trip to Europe. Where's the fun in that, anyway?" Lexa's expression was clearly full of hope that Clarke would agree, but she couldn't._

 _She had to get back to DC._

 _Didn't she?_

 _Lowering her gaze, the blonde realized that by now, her appetite was long gone. She took in a shaky breath and looked back up to Lexa. "For how long?"_

 _"However long you want."_

 _"I don't know, Lexa..."_

 _The brunette let out a puff of air, but she didn't sound exasperated. Maybe a bit nervous – like the breath was the last of the nerves she'd had about asking. Though, Clarke wasn't even sure if she'd been nervous to ask in the first place. "You told me that you came to London because you wanted to be spontaneous. So why not? Is anything really stopping you? You came here yourself, anyway."_

 _Something like excitement overwhelmed Clarke suddenly, and she realized it. She couldn't say no. What had she wanted, but to get away from her life? And what better way to go through with that than to stay in Europe? It wasn't like she didn't want to, it was fear, holding her back._

 _Maybe, deep down, she knew that she shouldn't trust Lexa – she'd known her for a handful of days, no more. However, the look Lexa was giving her was telling her otherwise, that logic didn't matter in this case, that she should take a risk._

 _So, taking in a deep breath, she let her eyes flicker shut and she said, "Okay."_

And for the following hours after that, Clarke repacked up all of her stuff and checked out of her hotel, following a very chipper Lexa through London to get to the Eurostar station – she couldn't remember the actual name of it. She paid for her ticket to France, a one way trip under the channel, and now found herself seated at a table in one of the cars. Her suitcase was jammed up in an overhead container, and her backpack and messenger bag sitting sprawled out next to her.

Lexa's seat was across from her, but the brunette had excused herself to the bathroom. Clarke also needed to use the bathroom, but she decided to wait a little longer. Right now, her head was spinning. From all of her conflicting emotions, yes, but also from the fact that the train was currently descending further into the ground. At least, that's what she assumed.

When the brunette returned, sitting across from Clarke and next to the other window, blue eyes followed her movements. "Why did you want me to come with you?" The question escaped her before she could think twice.

Lexa tilted her head slightly. "You're not bad company."

"So you decided after two days that I was worthy company enough to go with you through Europe?"

"You decided after two days the exact same thing, considering that you're here," Lexa justified, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Second thoughts?"

"No." The answer was quick, and Clarke was actually surprised at how firmly she said it. She wasn't having second thoughts, this was the right thing to do. For the first time in what felt like forever, a rush of adrenaline had taken over her body.

"So what's wrong?" The way Lexa asked the question told the blonde that she actually wanted Clarke to tell her – that she cared. Clarke, surprisingly, didn't doubt that at all.

However, that didn't change that Clarke really felt like keeping her own problems to herself. She just shrugged, and mumbled, "I'm going to go to the bathroom." She stood and started toward the bathroom, leaving Lexa alone at the table.

When she returned, the brunette was looking at her with curious eyes. "Your phone went off like... twenty times while you were gone for like two minutes."

"Oh." Clarke glanced down at her phone as she sat down, before pointedly turning it over and avoiding looking at the messages on its screen.

"Avoiding someone?"

Clarke shook her head.

"Multiple someones?" Clarke said nothing. "Sorry. I won't pry."

There was silence settling in between them, but just a few seconds later, the blonde made a decision. If she was going to spend more time with Lexa, no matter how long, there really wasn't a point in not telling her. "I'm avoiding everyone." Lexa didn't respond, so Clarke continued, "My mom, all of my friends. I... kind of told them all I was leaving the morning of. I didn't even tell my mom in person. They're... a little freaked out, to say the least."

"Oh, wow," Lexa said, sounding actually surprised. "Why..."

She didn't finish the question, but Clarke answered it nevertheless. She let out a slightly sad laugh and said, "My life is kind of spinning out of control. I got dumped a few weeks ago, which didn't hit me full force until two weeks ago, which was the anniversary of my dad's death – which was six years ago, when I was seventeen. Usually, my ex would've been there for me, but seeing as he's my ex now... I was crashing with my best friends, and I kinda started wallowing. And I sort of forgot about things like... my job. So. Lost that."

"I'm sorry," Lexa said, and Clarke looked up, meeting her green gaze. "I can see why you wanted to get away."

"It's fine," Clarke muttered. "My workplace will give me my job back when I get back, anyway. My best friend talked to my boss and explained everything, and he's really understanding, so. He said when I'm ready, the job's still mine. I guess that's why I felt like it was justified for me to take a trip. Plus, I'm not really paying for rent anywhere right now either. Seeing as I got kicked out of my own apartment."

"Well... at least your life isn't boring." The statement was a joke, of course, but had it been from anyone else, Clarke would've glared. Instead, she actually found herself letting out an attempt at a laugh, and Lexa seemed pleased to have gotten the girl to relax a little.

"Being in London already helped, actually," Clarke admitted. "It's nice just to be away. You know?"

"The first time I came to Europe was just after I broke up with someone," Lexa admitted. "Though I was the one that did the dumping, she was cheating on me, so it would be understandable for me to be upset. I had the job, of course, when I came to Europe, but I mostly came for myself. It helped a lot. So I do know."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm over it, it was a long time ago," Lexa said, smiling. "Thanks for telling me. You didn't have to. I didn't mean to pry..."

"It's okay," Clarke insisted, "I wanted to tell you. Would be kind of hard to explain my phone continuously going off for however long I'm here. It's easier just to explain it now. We're kind of stuck on this train for two more hours together anyway."

"Oh no," Lexa teased, and Clarke found a smile appearing on her face as the brunette continued, "I have to spend two hours stuck here with you?" Lexa's smile grew wider once Clarke was smiling, and the blonde actually really appreciated her efforts to make her feel better.

Silence fell over them again, though, and neither of them tried to break it. It was comforting for Clarke, just knowing that Lexa was there, not judging her for her life falling apart, and not pushing her at all. Just being there.

Clarke retrieved her sketchbook from her messenger bag and flipped to the next empty page. She pressed a pencil to the page, with the intention to draw something she'd seen in London, anything really, but she found her inspiration to do so suddenly dissipating. Instead, she doodled her childhood home – it was a habit she had. When she had nothing else to draw, she drew the same arch over her mom's front door, and the worn steps up to the tall front door. It was a homey home, and it reminded her of her dad. She always found herself falling back on this doodle more around the anniversary of her dad's death. It was comforting.

At some point, Lexa's gaze peeked up from her phone, watching Clarke draw. The blonde felt her gaze, and after a moment, looked up to meet it. "What are you staring at?" she asked playfully, a smile peeking her lips.

Lexa blushed inexplicably, and Clarke felt her smile grow. "What are you drawing?"

"Just doodling," Clarke replied, shrugging. "I meant to draw something from London, but... I guess the inspiration already left me. I've already done two while I was in the city."

"So you draw?"

"As a hobby."

Lexa hummed in response, and Clarke had a feeling that she wanted to see, but didn't want to ask. So she flipped the page back two, to the scene she'd drawn while sitting by the London Eye. She turned her sketchbook around and showed the brunette, whose green eyes brightened when she realized that Clarke was showing her. "Wow, that's really good."

"Thanks," Clarke said, turning the pad back to herself and flipping back to her doodle. She drew for a while longer, but at some point, she leaned her head against the glass window and drifted off to sleep.

Someone gently touching her arm woke her up hours later, and her eyes fluttered open with confusion, glancing up at Lexa, who was smiling with amusement. "Come on, we're here."

"Did I sleep for two hours?" Clarke asked, shocked at herself.

"You did," Lexa replied. "Come on, we have to exchange our money before we can actually do anything, and we lost an hour of daylight."

"You got pictures to take or something?" Clarke teased, stretching slightly before sliding her sketchbook, which had fallen open onto the table, into her messenger bag, which she then slung over her body before throwing her backpack on as well. Lexa had already retrieved her suitcase from the overhead bin, and she took the handle of it gratefully.

"Actually no, I'm ahead of schedule, so I'm going to start taking pictures tomorrow," Lexa admitted. "I wanna show you something, though."

"Okay," Clarke agreed, following Lexa through the car and out of the train, into a large station. At first, it felt like they'd gone nowhere, but Clarke soon realized that every sign around them was clearly labeled in French. This was going to be much harder than London, that was for sure. "Uh, do you speak French?"

"No," Lexa answered, chuckling, "but we'll be fine. Come on."

It took them a while to finally get out of the Eurostar station, after getting through the security measures and then exchanging their pounds and pence for Euros. Clarke personally liked the Euros better – they were actually really nice looking. She couldn't help but wish that the US would take a page from Europe's book – dollar bills were literally the ugliest form of currency. After getting their Euros, Clarke found herself mindlessly following Lexa through the train station. Apparently, the brunette had actually paid attention to where the hotel they were staying at was, and knew where to go. Unlike Clarke, of course.

They reached their hotel at around five in the evening, finally, and Clarke felt absolutely exhausted, and also extremely hungry. When they arrived at the hotel, Lexa informed the blonde that during the train ride, she'd booked a room with two beds. Clarke barely even mustered a response, and when they reached the room, she found herself collapsing on the first bed, claiming it.

"Tired?" Lexa asked, amused. Clarke let out a groan, and she heard the brunette laugh lightly. "Well I wanna show you something still. Not sure exactly how you're still tired, considering you slept so long on the train."

"I don't know either," Clarke muttered into the pillow that her face was smashed into.

"I'm going to take a shower," Lexa said, apparently realizing that Clarke had no intention of moving. Clarke heard the brunette slip into the bathroom, and the sound of the door closing caused her to finally stir. She shrugged off the backpack that she was still wearing, and took off her messenger back as well, dropping both onto the floor.

She was a little tired, but she knew that sleeping was probably not what she should be doing. After all, she still had the whole evening ahead of her, and it would screw up her sleep schedule even more. Instead, since she'd showered that morning, she tied her hair up into a messy ponytail and changed clothes, trying to make herself feel a little less like she'd been traveling for hours. It worked, for the most part, and she sat herself on her bed with her legs crossed, checking who she had received notifications from since that morning.

Her mom, of course, and both of her best friends. Also her ex, which caught her by surprise. She hadn't gotten any texts or calls from him since he dumped her. His was the only one that she read.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – Hey, I heard from O and Rae that u r off the grid. U ok?**

She scoffed, narrowing her eyes. Of course her best friends would assume that she would crumble from receiving a text from him.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – U went to the UK? Even tho u lost ur job?**

Now angry, Clarke locked her phone and dropped it onto the bed, grabbing a pillow and shoving it into her face. She wasn't going to cry, but she felt like she might explode. It was enraging that her best friends had told him what she was doing. She'd already told them where she was going, and promised that she would be okay, and they could text her all they wanted about it. But she felt betrayed that they had gone to him. He didn't care.

Clarke didn't care about him either. That wasn't hard to realize. The pain he'd caused her was enough to make her realize that he wasn't worth it. But even if she didn't care about him, she still had a large portion of anger devoted to his face and his fucking phone number. Hence the name in her phone.

She didn't notice the bathroom door opening, or that Lexa had reentered the room, until the brunette asked carefully, "Are you okay?"

Clarke pulled her face out of the pillow to answer that she was fine, but then her eyes caught on Lexa, standing in front of her in just a towel, with her hair damp and hanging around her concerned face. Clarke tried to keep her eyes in appropriate places, instead of the long, tanned legs that she wanted to look at. Swallowing thickly, she nodded. "Yeah, fine."

"Okay," Lexa said, sounding like she just didn't want to press her for information. "You okay to leave in half an hour?" She was moving over to her bed, where she began shuffling through her suitcase, locating an outfit to wear and a bag that Clarke assumed carried her makeup. Unable to come up with anymore words due to the beautiful and half naked girl in front of her, Clarke just nodded. Lexa flashed her a smile, and then disappeared back into the bathroom.

Clarke was so screwed. She'd known that she had feelings for Lexa – that much was obvious – as well as the fact that Lexa probably had feelings for her, if the date had been any indication. That didn't mean that she had expected her feelings to go any deeper than the surface, where they'd been sitting the past two days. She really couldn't help it, though. It wasn't her fault that Lexa was not only beautiful, but really sexually attractive.

It probably also didn't help that Clarke hadn't had sex in about three weeks.

She was a sexual being, she wasn't afraid to admit that. She needed sex more often than every three weeks.

And now she couldn't stop picturing sex with Lexa, and she instantly began silently scolding herself. She picked up her phone to find some distraction, and seeing the texts from her ex reappearing on the screen definitely diverted her attention. It didn't make her feel any better, though.

Neither did noticing that her mom's last message to her was just that she wanted to know that Clarke was okay, and safe, no matter where she was or what she was doing.

The blonde was tempted to reply, but she couldn't. She didn't want to give into it. The minute she replied, her mother would be spamming her again with texts and trying to call her, expecting more than just a single response. Maybe it was a little bit selfish of her to not tell anyone back in DC that she was okay, but she deserved to be selfish for once.

Since Clarke hadn't needed to shower and didn't really care to redo her makeup or anything, even after her nap, she only had to use the bathroom once Lexa was done in the bathroom and then grab her purse before following Lexa out of the hotel room.

"So," Clarke started, "where are we going?"

"Guess."

"Lexa, I'm literally the worst at anything regarding any geography or anything. I can't guess."

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine. You'll see when we get there."

"Do we have to take the subway?"

"That would be the fastest way to get there," Lexa answered, looking to the blonde. "Is that okay?" Clarke blinked, not expecting Lexa to offer to change her plans. For some reason, the question made her heart skip a beat, and she smiled.

"That's fine."

"If it helps, I'll hold your hand while we walk through the metro," Lexa said, grinning and winking at Clarke, a gesture that had Clarke's mouth dry within seconds.

"You just want to hold my hand," she stated.

Lexa's smile softened. "Maybe." They were nearly to the subway station they were headed for, silent now, and with a clear physical tension between them. Clarke knew that Lexa wasn't going to break it, because she was just too considerate. So the blonde took initiative and reached out, taking Lexa's hand gingerly.

She noticed even as the brunette kept her gaze forward, that a look of surprise passed over Lexa's face. Clarke just found herself smiling slightly, because a moment later, Lexa intertwined their fingers. It was slightly weird, actually, considering that they barely knew each other, but it didn't feel that way. Plus, their hands fit nicely together. And Lexa's hand was unbelievably soft – so soft that Clarke found herself wondering what the rest of her skin felt like... like those legs she'd seen earlier, that went on for days.

The thought was torn from her mind as she suddenly found herself being pulled down into a metro station. Their handhold broke once they were in the crowd of people around them, because Clarke ended up having to follow directly behind Lexa, who obviously knew where she was going. As they walked, her gaze focused on Lexa's hair, which she thought that Lexa must've blow dried, since it was falling in such perfect waves despite the shower she'd taken just forty minutes ago.

By the time they got to their train, Clarke knew that she'd made the right decision, coming here with Lexa. She felt nothing but excitement, which was filling her up and making her actually feel something good, for once. Something unmistakable, that came from where she was, who she was with, and what she was doing.

She wasn't exactly sure what to name that feeling just yet, so she stored the thought in the back of her mind as she squeezed into the train alongside Lexa and wondered briefly where they were going.


	4. Chapter 4

"I guess I could've guessed this," Clarke said, her blue eyes following the huge monument up to the top – the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, it probably wasn't her brightest moment to have not been able to guess it. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it was."

"How big did you think it was?" Lexa asked, clearly amused.

"Um. I don't know? I've only seen the one in Vegas, so."

Lexa let out a bright laugh that made Clarke's heart bounce – for some reason, hearing Lexa's laugh did that to her. "You didn't think it was the same size, did you?"

Clarke scoffed. "No."

"Okay, so you wanna climb up then?" Lexa was smiling brightly at the blonde, and Clarke's gaze found the staircase. Her jaw dropped once she saw it.

"Wait, we have to climb that thing? I didn't even know you could go up it."

"Wow," Lexa said, clearly stifling a laugh and earning a playful glare from the blonde. "Technically there's a lift, but... climbing is a better experience."

"Like hell it is," Clarke muttered, crossing her arms. "I am not climbing that thing."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm gonna go buy tickets."

"Wait, let me pay for mine."

Lexa was shaking her head, though. "No, it's fine. Plus, you're twenty-three, right? You mentioned that you were seventeen six years ago."

"Yeah, why?"

"Well," the brunette was clearly slightly amused, "anyone under the age of twenty-four gets a discounted price."

"Are you trying to say that you're going to pay for my ticket because it's basically the price for a child?" Clarke asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

Lexa let out a light laugh and shook her head, "No of course not. It's the price for a teenager." Before Clarke could object, though, Lexa was off to the the ticket booth, and Clarke was left alone in front of the tower. She looked up at it again, and let out a breath. She could see that the stairs definitely didn't go all the way up to the top, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to climb the whole way to the middle part. It seemed like a lot of stairs.

The bright side was that before they'd come to the tower, they'd stopped a little sandwich place for a late lunch, or perhaps an early dinner, so Clarke was no longer hungry.

Since she was alone, she took out her phone and decided to take a selfie with the tower – if she didn't, her best friends would kill her later. That was for sure. And even though she was still angry with them for telling her ex where she'd gone, she knew that by the time she eventually went back home, everything would be okay. Even if they were pissed at her for a little while first. They were always okay, it was just how thing were between them.

Clarke started to get bored waiting for Lexa, but then she finally caught the brunette on her way back. "Got the tickets," she said, smiling happily. "I didn't pay for the elevator up to the second floor, though, so we're climbing that part."

"I don't wanna," Clarke whined, but Lexa just nudged her.

"Come on, it'll be fun. It's part of the experience."

"I didn't come here for the experience."

Lexa raised her eyebrows. "So why'd you come here?" Clarke said nothing, and then she sighed.

"Fine." Clearly proud of herself, Lexa spun on her heels and started toward the stairs. Trying not to groan at the idea of climbing so many steps, she started after the brunette. "Slow down!"

"Okay," Lexa said, slowing her pace, "but we can't take three hours to get up there, Clarke. There's champagne at the top, but the bar closes at ten."

"I won't take three hours," Clarke objected, though as she soon as she started climbing the stairs, she huffed. "Maybe just two."

"Come on, it doesn't take that long. It's not as many as it seems."

"How many is it?"

"I don't know."

Clarke huffed, and by the time that she was sure that she'd climbed two hundred steps, her eyes caught on a label on one of the steps that marked which number it was. Twenty. Of course. Only twenty. "For fuck's sake," she grumbled.

"What?"

Clarke just shook her head. "This better be worth it." Lexa gave her a soft smile, and Clarke suddenly felt a soft hand wrapped around her own. As frustrated as she was, she couldn't help but calm considerably at the feeling.

The climb didn't end up being too bad, she figured, by the time they reached the first level.

That was, until she realized that it was the first level, and that they needed to get to the second level before taking the lift up to the top. "Okay, but we're taking a break," she told Lexa, going to the edge of the level and looking over the plaza below them.

"Fair enough," Lexa agreed, following the blonde.

Clarke let out an impressed breath, the city was definitely something else. Dozens of people were scattered below them, though it was definitely getting dark by now, and the lights from the city around them kept the place illuminated just well enough to still see.

After about five minutes of standing there silently, Lexa reached out and tugged Clarke's hand. "Come on. Don't you wanna see what it's like from the top?"

It didn't take as long to get up to the second level, and from there, they filed into the shortening line that would bring them up to the top of the tower itself. Despite having seen the height of the tower from the ground, it didn't really register until she and Lexa were peering through the protective fence around the top level, looking down at the ground. It was funny looking, actually, all of the tiny people. The trees were trimmed into cube shapes, making them look like giant hedges. It was amusing, actually.

They went to the champagne bar and each got a glass – and Clarke finally paid for her own. She did appreciate Lexa paying for her ticket onto the tower, but she didn't want to take advantage of the brunette, who seemed to have no monetary issue at the moment. Walking back out to look through the fence again, they sipped their champagne quietly.

"Okay, this was worth it," Clarke finally admitted, looking over to Lexa, whose gaze was still focused on the ground below them.

"Told you," Lexa teased, smiling at the blonde brightly. Clarke rolled her eyes, a smile on her face as well, and then looked up at the dark sky. The bright city made it pretty hard to see the stars, but she wasn't particularly used to seeing lots of stars anyway.

A minute later, Clarke suddenly heard the click of a camera, and her head instantly turned to face Lexa, whose glass had been precariously set down against the fence. She had her camera, which must've been tucked away in her purse, out and in her hands. "Did you just take a picture of me?"

"Maybe?" Lexa asked, smirking slightly.

Clarke took a sip of her champagne. "Why?"

"You're not a bad subject," the brunette replied, lifting her camera again and snapping a picture.

"Cut it out," Clarke said, though her tone was light and drew a mischievous grin onto the other girl's face. "Lexa..."

"What? I promise, the pictures look very flattering." She snapped another one. Clarke squeaked as the flash suddenly turned on and blinded her for a moment. "Oops. Well, that one probably wasn't."

"Lexa!" Clarke exclaimed. "Delete them!"

Lexa grinned, biting her lower lip as if to keep the smile from growing too big for her face. "Why? You look so cute in them."

"Shut up," Clarke protested, though a blush had already risen to her cheeks. "At least let me see them."

Lexa took a step closer to Clarke, though her camera was held carefully in her hands, like she feared that the blonde mind steal it. She rotated the device to show the screen to Clarke, and cycled between the three pictures she took. The first two were kind of dark, but Clarke actually didn't look half bad in them. The last one, though, was absolutely awful – Clarke's eyes were all squinted and Lexa immediately began laughing when Clarke huffed.

"Delete that!"

"No way."

"Lexa."

"Clarke."

Clarke huffed, realizing that she was getting nowhere, and drank down the last of her champagne. "Fine, but you owe me another glass."

"Deal," Lexa chirped, smiling, grabbing Clarke's empty glass, and suddenly disappearing back into the little middle part of the top level of the Eiffel Tower. Clarke looked back down over the city and honestly felt in awe of the view. A few moments later, Lexa returned with another glass in her hand for Clarke.

The blonde took it. "Thanks." She took another sip of it as Lexa pointed her camera out through the fence and down at the dark, yet somehow lit up, plaza below them. "Isn't it a little dark for pictures?"

Lexa took one and then looked at it, shrugging. "Looks kinda cool, but yeah. I'll have to come back here tomorrow or something to take some actual ones for my commission. But I didn't come here tonight to take those pictures anyway."

"So why did you bring your camera?" Clarke asked, tilting her head and taking another sip of her champagne.

"I usually always bring it with me," Lexa replied, shrugging as she powered the device off and slipped it back into her purse. "Never know when a good photo-op will come up." Lexa flashed the blonde a knowing smile.

"Mmhmm," Clarke replied, rolling her eyes and fighting a smile. She was finishing the second glass of champagne by now.

"Wanna head back down now?"

"Sure," Clarke agreed, not really caring either way. Her mind was buzzing slightly from the glasses of champagne, and she was feeling quite bubbly herself as she followed Lexa back to the elevator that would take them back down to the second level on the tower. She assumed they'd be walking back down the stairs, but the prospect definitely didn't seem as bad as climbing it.

And it wasn't. It took far less time for them to reach the plaza after leaving the second floor.

The conversation they made as they found their way back to the metro and headed back to their hotel was possibly the lightest and most casual conversation they'd had yet. It was nice, just to talk about random things. Clarke mentioned her bartender job again, and Lexa admitted that she was usually just a wine drinker, and the blonde promised to make some sort of drink for Lexa at some point. The brunette still seemed to not believe that Clarke could mix drinks, which fueled the other girl's intent on proving herself.

When they reached their hotel again, it was nearly eleven, and Clarke realized that the window at the end of the room looked out at the Eiffel Tower. Just as she glanced out at it, the whole tower began to sparkle, and she gasped. "Whoa."

"What?" Lexa asked, looking up from where she'd been looking for something in her suitcase. "Oh, the sparkling."

"It's so pretty," Clarke mused, watching the tower that she'd been standing on not too long ago.

"Mmhmm," Lexa agreed, suddenly standing next to the blonde, whose gaze flickered to her companion.

"Thanks for showing me," Clarke murmured softly, smiling gratefully.

Lexa returned the smile. "Don't worry about it."

Clarke suddenly felt the exhaustion of the whole day overtaking her body, and she took in a light breath and made her way back to her bed, to retrieve her toiletries. "I won't take too long in the bathroom."

"Okay," Lexa said, seemingly not worried about it.

That was probably because once Clarke was curled up in bed, drifting to sleep, and Lexa came out of the bathroom, she sat up on her bed with her laptop out, clicking through pictures. The bright light from the computer didn't keep Clarke up, though, even though she stopped drifting off when she noticed. No, what kept her up was Lexa herself.

From her position on the bed next to Lexa's, Clarke watched the brunette, who seemed oblivious. The feelings that she had had for Lexa basically right off of the bat were far bigger now, three days later. She supposed that it wasn't too weird, though, considering that they'd spent the whole day together. She kept finding things that increased how much she liked Lexa. For example, her laugh. Every time Lexa laughed, Clarke couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in her chest. She was just... so carefree and lighthearted, but also understanding, and breathtakingly beautiful.

But finally, tiredness overcame the blonde, and she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke to a bright light breaking through her closed eyes. Groaning, she rolled over to face the other direction, and immediately the light became less harsh. Eyes flickering open, Clarke stretched her arms out in front of her and then sat up. She saw Lexa sound asleep under the blankets of her own bed, with her laptop half closed and asleep next to her. Clarke briefly wondered what time the brunette had finally gone to bed, but then realized that she really needed to pee, and quickly hopped off of her bed and went into the bathroom.

After using the bathroom, she decided that there was no point in leaving the room without getting ready the rest of the way, so she took a quick shower, washed her hair, blew it dry, and then did her makeup. By that point, she'd realized that she hadn't brought any clothes into the bathroom to change into, so she quickly went back out to her bed to grab an outfit out of her suitcase. Lexa was still fast asleep as she did so, and by the time Clarke was completely ready and seating herself back on her bed, Lexa was still asleep.

Leaning against the backboard of her bed, Clarke reached to the side table in between the two beds and unplugged her phone. It flashed the time at her – ten-thirty – before she unlocked it.

She had many texts, of course, though less than normal.

Though, she had one from her ex again.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – Seriously, Clarke. This isn't funny. Tell ur friends or ur mom where u r. U r acting like a child.**

Clarke felt anger building in her chest, and she was tempted to reply to him – to tell him to leave her the fuck alone, to forget about her. She was also nearly as tempted to call her friends and bust them for talking to him about her.

But she didn't.

Instead, she opened up Instagram and went to her best friend's account, stalking the pictures from the past few days. There was a selfie up accompanied with a long rant about some "dickhead" that had she'd had to talk to at work, from the day before Clarke had left. After that, nothing. Until the previous night, when she posted a picture of her and their other best friend together at a club, with the caption: **Partying hard with octabadassbb !**

There were a few comments on the picture – one from the tagged friend, Octavia, one from a girl who was friends with Octavia, and one from Raven, Clarke's best friend.

 **octabadassbb: blackbirdrae love partyin w u! … missing thegriffinator tho.**

 **iplaytheharper: octabadassbb blackbirdrae where is thegriffinator ? .. thought she was crashing w u guys?**

 **blackbirdrae: iplaytheharper she's on a trip**

Clarke let out a light breath. So at least if her friends had told her ex where she was, they at least didn't seem to be making it a big public thing. She was appreciative of that. Though, the number of Instagram and Twitter messages she had made it clear that they were still quite worried about her. She supposed that she shouldn't be angry at them for that, though.

Clarke's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of Lexa stirring in the other bed. Blue eyes were drawn to the other girl, whose eyes fluttered open a moment later. She was facing Clarke's bed, and immediately smile.

"Morning." Lexa's morning voice was slightly raspy, and Clarke thought that it was honestly super adorable.

"Good morning," Clarke replied. Lexa noticed that Clarke was showered and made up and fully dressed already.

"You've been up a while?"

Clarke shrugged. "The sun woke me up."

"Oh shit, I should've closed the curtains," Lexa muttered, rolling over to face the sun that was streaming in through the glass.

"It's fine," Clarke insisted, amused. "I don't know when you need to be taking pictures... but it's ten-thirty, so."

Lexa nodded, sitting up. The strap of the tank top she was wearing drooped off of her shoulder a bit, and Clarke scolded herself for letting her attention immediately fall to the revealed skin. "Yeah, I should probably be getting ready. You gonna come with?"

"I don't really have anything else to do," Clarke said, looking pointedly at the brunette. "But I am not climbing the Eiffel Tower again."

Lexa laughed. "I'm probably just gonna take the elevator up to the top for about ten minutes to take some pictures. Shouldn't be too long there."

"Okay," Clarke said, smiling at the brunette as she dragged herself out of bed. "Well, the bathroom's all yours, go crazy."

Laughing lightly again, Lexa padded across the room and slipped into the bathroom, but not before remembering to grab a change of clothes.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated again and she glanced down, reading the text message from her lock screen.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – I can see that u read my msg, Clarke. Text me back.**

Clarke blinked. She had completely forgotten to think about that – she hadn't opened the text messages from any of her friends or her mom in her actual message app, just her ex's. She quickly unlocked her phone and went to her settings, turning off the "read messages" option. Taking in a deep breath, she locked her phone again and tossed it aside.

She was stubborn, that much she knew, and maybe that was the main reason that she was still ignoring everyone's messages. And maybe she'd waited long enough, and she should at least let them know where she was.

But the thought made her heart rate pick up, because she knew that they would all be mad.

So she did nothing, just sprawling across her bed and looking out through the window through her angled view, waiting for Lexa to finish getting ready.


	5. Chapter 5

They went to the Eiffel Tower just after leaving the hotel, after only stopping at a nearby place for a quick breakfast. After that, Lexa seemed to go into powerhouse mode when it came to picture taking. Clarke kind of just followed her around for the most part, taking in the city and letting the brunette do her thing.

At some point, though, Clarke slipped inside a souvenir shop – leave it to her to be the typical tourist. She was only in there a few minutes before Lexa came to tell her that she was going down the street, and after pointedly getting the blonde to put her phone number in her phone, said she would call her when she was done. Clarke liked the arrangement, it was easy. They were there together, but it wasn't like they were entirely stuck together.

She let herself feel all touristy as she explored the little souvenir shop, trying to decide what to buy. She'd purchased a necklace from London, which was in her backpack back at the hotel, and she knew that she had to get something from Paris. She would kick herself later if she didn't, and so she ignored the probably too high prices as she scanned through the items.

After about half an hour of being picky, she finally decided to just buy another necklace, this one with a sparkly Eiffel Tower hanging off of it. She smiled to herself as she looked at it – the previous night popping up in her thoughts. It had been a good night.

As she was finishing up purchasing the necklace and about to clasp it on, she felt her phone ringing from in her messenger bag. She traded the device for her necklace and answered the call, assuming it was Lexa.

"Clarke Griffin!"

It was not Lexa.

It was her best friend, Raven. Clarke stood frozen as she realized how stupid she'd been to answer the phone without looking at who it was. She said nothing, and she heard a huff on the other end of the call.

"I think she butt answered me or something."

"That's not a thing, Raven. Clarke! Are you there?"

Octavia.

"If you don't say anything, I'm going to assume that this isn't Clarke and that you've been kidnapped and I will call the London police!" Raven's threat is what finally snapped Clarke out of her regret induced haze.

Realizing that there was nothing she could do to undo her mistake, she muttered, "I'm not in London."

"Oh my god, Clarke!" Octavia sounded so relieved to hear the blonde's voice, and Clarke felt bad for an instant. "You couldn't have answered your goddamn phone at least once in the last fucking four days?"

"If you're not in London, where are you?" Raven demanded, sounding less concerned about the intense avoiding that had been going on. "Are you back in DC?"

"No."

"So where are you?" her best friend asked, softening her voice a little.

"You told Finn that I went to Europe."

There was silence on the other end of the line as Clarke waited for one of her best friends to admit to it. "We... didn't mean to," Octavia finally said, clearly trying to tread carefully. "We asked if he knew where you were, or if you'd texted him at all... the rest was hard not to explain after he kept pestering us about it. We thought you might've talked to him about where you went."

"I told you where I went." Clarke's voice came off maybe a bit too harsh, and she slipped out of the store as the man at the register looked at her with confusion. "You were supposed to trust that I'm fine."

"You are clearly not fine, Clarke," Raven argued. "If you were, you'd be here right now, going to work everyday and trying to find a new place to live. Instead, you ran to a fucking different continent!"

"I don't want to hear your disapproval of my decision, Raven!"

"So what do you want to hear?"

"Nothing! That's why I've been not answering your calls and texts for four days! I'm not okay, you're right. Physically, where I am right now, I'm okay. Emotionally? Obviously not. That doesn't mean that I need to be there right now. I need to be away. And I am." Clarke leaned against the outside of the building she'd just exited out of, her eyes watching the cars driving back and forth along the street in front of her.

"Where is that?" Octavia demanded. "Where are you if you aren't in London?"

"I'm still in Europe."

"What, floating in the middle of the ocean?" Clarke could practically see Raven rolling her eyes. "Where are you in Europe?"

"Why do you want to know? You gonna tell Finn so that he can text me some more and piss me off?" the blonde snapped.

There was a deep sigh from her best friend on the other end of the line, and Clarke heard what sounded like someone shuffling with the phone. Suddenly, the voice on the other end was clearer, and it was Octavia's. "Look, Clarke. I know that telling Finn was probably going too far. But we're worried about you. You didn't leave our apartment for like twelve days, and you lost your job, and then you tell us one morning that you're flying toLondon, and then don't call for four days. You have to understand that we're worried about you."

"I get it," Clarke said, allowing her voice to soften a little as she dropped her gaze down to the pavement right in front of her. "But I'm okay. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"And I'll call you or text you or whatever... when I'm ready to. I'm so far away for a reason, Octavia."

"Are you mad at us?" Octavia asked, her voice quieter now. "Raven's worried that you're really mad at us."

"I'm frustrated," Clarke replied, shaking her head, "but that doesn't mean that I'm mad... I just need time, okay?"

"Okay. You should call your mom, by the way. She hasn't been sleeping very easily since you left."

Clarke let her eyes flicker shut, trying to contain any emotion. Suddenly, her phone beeped, indicating that she was getting another call. "Um, I gotta go, Octavia."

"Wait, Clarke –"

Clarke pulled the phone away from her ear and quickly clicked the accept button on the other phone call, after checking pointedly that it was Lexa calling. When she answered, the brunette started talking instantly, "I found a cute place for lunch over here, if you're hungry."

Stomach growling at the idea of food, Clarke found a smile suddenly and surprisingly appearing on her face. "Yeah, sure. I'll come that way."

"Okay, I'll wait for you over here!" The call ended, and Clarke let a happy sigh slip from her lips as she slid her phone into her messenger bag, grabbing her necklace from it instead. As she made her way down the sidewalk, she fumbled with the clasp and finally got it on. She found herself wondering how Lexa could light her up even despite the phone call she'd just had with her friends.

Clarke felt her phone vibrate again, but after a quick glance into her back, saw that it was her mom. Probably because Raven or Octavia had texted her to let her know that Clarke had finally spoken to them. She felt bad about not talking to her mom, but she knew that her mom would be the one person who might be able to convince her to come home. And that was something that she didn't want to do, even more so now that she was with Lexa.

"Hey," she found herself saying brightly, once she located Lexa.

Lexa smiled, glancing up from her camera. Her eyes fell on the necklace around Clarke's neck. "That's pretty."

"Yeah, I kind of just wanna have something from each place I go to. That's kind of how I've been since forever," Clarke said. "You said something about food?"

Laughing, the brunette nodded to the little sandwich place, which also appeared to be a bakery. "This look okay?"

"It's food, isn't it?" Clarke answered, and Lexa rolled her eyes as Clarke happily entered the little cafe. They each ordered a sandwich, which wasn't too difficult even considering the language difference, because convenient menus were set on the counter for them to point at, and then sat down at one of the little tables to wait for it them to be ready. "How many more pictures to you need to take today?"

"I think I'm done for today," Lexa admitted. "I only have a couple more places to go to, but I can finish that tomorrow. I love this place, and I kind of just want some time to be here, and not be working. You know?"

Clarke nodded that she did, and then a smiling French woman brought them their two sandwiches. The blonde hummed with content as she took a bite. "This is so good."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Lexa scolded playfully, before taking a bit of her own sandwich. Clarke swallowed her food before she replied.

"Always so responsible."

"One of us has to be," Lexa reasoned, quirking an eyebrow up at the blonde. "Anyway, I think that falls more under the category of etiquette than responsibility."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Lexa smiled endearingly at Clarke, who was taking another giant bite of her sandwich. Because of her determined eating, she finished her sandwich before Lexa had finished hers, so she slid her phone out of her messenger bag while the brunette finished. She couldn't help but be a little curious to see if she'd gotten any new messages.

She had one from her mom and two from Raven, but the blonde had a feeling that she wasn't going to be getting as many, and that made her feel significantly better. Despite everything, it was nice to know that now her friends weren't worrying about her as much, and they could lay off a little bit.

The rest of the day was considerably nicer after that. Lexa got Clarke to take the metro again, and they came up near the Seine River. After a short walk, they were standing along it. Clarke wasn't sure exactly the way the river flowed through the city, but where they were standing allowed a clear view of the Notre-Dame on the other side. The Gothic architecture made Clarke suddenly want to sketch it, so she took a good long look at it while Lexa snapped some pictures – despite having said that she was finished for the day. She would've taken out her sketchbook then and there to sketch it, but she didn't want to sit there for hours, and she figured that Lexa might let her look at one of the pictures to sketch it from, if she needed it.

They ended up walking along the river a little bit, side by side and not speaking, until Lexa pointed at a bridge they started approaching. "That's the Pont des Arts."

"You're gonna have to expand on that," Clarke said, lifting an eyebrow.

Lexa smiled, amused. "It's the bridge that people always put 'love locks' on," she explained. Clarke looked to the bridge, and narrowed her eyes as she saw no locks anywhere on it.

"So where are they?"

"The city took them all down last year," Lexa admitted, frowning a little. "I guess the amount of locks on the railings was threatening the bridge structurally. There used to be so many. When I was here before, I remember wishing that I had someone with me to hang one up. I mean, I was kind of heartbroken at the time, so that makes sense. But they're all gone now, anyway. So. It's plexiglass now, I think."

"That sucks," Clarke commented. "I mean, I guess their reasoning makes sense. But it sucks that so many people won't get to have that experience anymore."

"I guess it just makes everyone who did pretty lucky," Lexa agreed, nodding. Clarke's gaze shifted to what was across the bridge, and her eyes widened.

"Is that the Louvre?"

"Yeah, it is. I've never been in it, but I walked by it when I was here before," Lexa admitted.

"Wait, why wouldn't you go? There are so many amazing pieces of art in there! I wanna go."

Lexa let out a light laugh at the blonde's sudden enthusiasm, but something told Clarke that the brunette wasn't surprised by it. "Okay, well, it's Tuesday today. So it's closed."

"Why are they closed on Tuesdays? That's literally so random." Clarke huffed and crossed hear arms over her chest. She wondered briefly how Lexa knew that it was closed on Tuesdays, and thought that maybe Lexa had preemptively found out, suspecting that Clarke would want to go.

"They're open pretty much all day tomorrow, though. So if you wanna go, you can," Lexa stated.

"You don't wanna?"

"I still have to take some pictures," Lexa replied, shrugging. "Plus, I'm actually not really into museums."

"You're kidding, right?" Clarke gaped at her companion. "What do you mean you're not into museums? They're literally so amazing! Especially art museums. I could spend hours in art museums. Especially the fucking Louvre!"

Lexa laughed brightly, catching Clarke off guard. "I don't doubt that, but I just get bored. So I'll take pictures tomorrow, and you can go to the Louvre."

"Suit yourself," Clarke said, shaking her head. "I still think you're crazy."

"Think what you want," Lexa mused, smiling still, "but I could be the normal one, and you could be crazy."

"Nope," Clarke countered, shaking her head as a smile crept onto her face. "Whatever. What other awe inspiring things are by this river?" They were past the Pont des Arts by now, and approaching another bridge.

"There are some really pretty gardens over there," Lexa said, pointing across the water, "if you wanna look at them. Jardin des Tuileries."

"How do you know all these fancy French names?" Clarke asked, drawing a laugh from the brunette.

"I don't know, I just know them," she answered. "I told you, I love this city. Plus, French is a really pretty language." They reached the bridge, and Lexa turned onto the sidewalk that led onto it, Clarke following her immediately.

"I tried to learn French in high school," Clarke admitted, drawing a curious gaze from Lexa, "but I remember literally nothing."

"That's unfortunate," Lexa commented, chuckling.

"Yeah, well," Clarke said, shrugging. "It doesn't help that my French teacher was from Oklahoma City." Lexa laughed, and Clarke found herself unable to hold back a smile. She wasn't sure how the sound always did that to her, but she knew by now that the feeling wasn't going away anytime soon.

"Fair enough," the brunette responded. They didn't say anything as they finished crossing the bridge, but as soon as they were on the other side of the Seine, Lexa surprised the blonde by grabbing her hand. "Come on, I wanna look at the gardens."

They spent a handful of hours at the huge garden, looking at all of the statues and soaking in the beauty of it all. Dozens of people were also exploring, and the atmosphere was just nice. Following their exploration of the garden, though, they started making their way back to a metro station that could take them back toward the hotel.

Well, Lexa started making her way back to the metro station, and Clarke followed blindly. She would honestly be so lost in the city without Lexa, she knew. The other girl seemed to find it amusing. They had mutually agreed to get food somewhere closer to the hotel, because after a long day of walking around, Clarke at least was ready to collapse into the soft bed that was waiting for her in the hotel room.

After taking the subway back to the area around their hotel, they looked around for a place to eat. It didn't take long, because they were both starting to get pretty hungry, and easily agreed on a cozy looking restaurant.

When they were seated, though, and ready to order, Clarke quickly became aware of the fact that their waiter either didn't know English well enough to speak it, or was just not interested in speaking it at all. She panicked for a moment, until Lexa started speaking French to the man, causing Clarke to drop her jaw.

She ordered for both of them, after giving the blonde an expectant look that Clarke returned by saying what she wanted. Once the waiter was gone, Clarke scoffed. "I thought you said you didn't speak any French."

Lexa smirked. "I speak a little."

"You're such a liar," Clarke said, though her tone was joking as she rolled her eyes. "Now I feel stupid, thanks."

"He probably thinks I'm stupid, I am ninety percent sure that I said all of those words in the wrong order," Lexa admitted, cringing at herself. "So don't worry. My French is probably not any better than yours was when you were in high school."

Clarke let out a light laugh and shook her head. "Whatever you say." They fell into the easy conversation that always seemed to be able to flow between them, and enjoyed a delicious dinner, and even when Clarke felt her phone vibrate with a new text message, she couldn't feel more happy about her decision to go with Lexa to Paris.


	6. Chapter 6

Clarke changed into comfy pajamas while Lexa was showering that night – she found it slightly amusing that she was a morning shower sort of person, while Lexa seemed to prefer showering at night. It made it easier, actually. Clarke had washed her face and used the bathroom and brushed her teeth before Lexa had gone in to shower, so now, as she tied her hair up into a bun, she was completely ready to curl up and go to sleep.

She didn't, though, because despite the long day, she knew that Lexa would probably be up for a while, organizing her pictures or whatever onto her laptop. For some reason, Clarke felt like she should stay up as well, to sort of keep Lexa company, or something.

So she sat up against the headboard of her bed, opening her messages app on her phone and immediately finding relief in the fact that Finn hadn't texted her at all the rest of the day. She only had a handful of notifications, actually, which she supposed made sense. Her friends knew that she wasn't dead or anything, so that probably had eased their worries a lot.

Not completely, which was why they had still sent some messages, but enough for Clarke to feel good about her situation. And if they were going to stop Finn from texting her, that was even better. She kept herself up by stalking some people on social media, until Lexa finally came out of the shower, dressed in short shorts and a tank top and drying her hair with a towel. She looked surprised when she noticed that the blonde was still awake.

"I thought you were going to crash as soon as you hit the pillow," Lexa commented, quirking up a curious eyebrow as Clarke tried to avoid looking at the exposed skin. Lexa had been wearing basically the same things as Clarke had over the past few days – jeans or leggings, and blouses with a coat. Every time Clarke saw the brunette's long legs, her throat went dry. She couldn't help it.

"Are you going to sleep soon?" Clarke wondered.

Lexa shook her head, like the blonde thought she would. "I have to move my pictures onto my computer," she replied, "but you don't need to stay up for me. Go to bed. You're tired."

Clarke shook her head. "No, I'll stay up."

"If you want to," Lexa said, smiling as she sat down on her bed and retrieved her laptop from the nightstand in between the beds. "Did you have a good day?"

"Mmhmm," Clarke answered. "My legs, though, are very tired."

"Mine too," Lexa assured her, opening her computer. They were quiet for a few minutes, and Clarke tried to think up something to ask the brunette. Somehow, it seemed that the tables had turned, and Lexa knew more about Clarke than the other way around.

"What's your other job? When you're not taking pictures?" Clarke finally asked, recalling that Lexa had said she had a different job at home in New York City.

Lexa gave Clarke a sideways glance, and then looked back at her computer, answering with, "I work at the Museum of Modern Art."

Clarke's jaw dropped. "What? You hate museums, but you work at one?"

"Maybe that's why I don't like them?"

"I'm telling you, you're weird."

Lexa let out a light laugh. "If you say so." She began transferring pictures from her camera to her computer, and Clarke settled a bit further into her bed, aware that she was really tired and wondering if she'd be able to stay up. The brunette seemed to notice this, and she chuckled. "Go to sleep, Clarke. I'll be fine."

"Mkay," Clarke gave in, unable to resist the pull of sleep as she lowered her head onto her pillow.

Once again, she woke before Lexa, but it seemed that the brunette had actually remembered to move her laptop off of her bed before letting herself fall asleep, since it was set on the nightstand again. Her camera was set on top if, its battery plugged into the wall instead of the lamp that used to be.

Clarke stretched her arms up over her head, yawning a bit, before she realized that the curtains were covering the windows that looked out at the Eiffel Tower. They hadn't been closed the previous day, and Clarke couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips when she realized that Lexa must've closed them before going to bed.

Dragging herself out of her bed, she began her morning routine, remembering to bring clothes into the bathroom this time around.

She was glad that she had remembered, too, because when she left the bathroom all clean and presentable, Lexa was awake, sitting up in her bed with her eyes on her phone. "Morning," Clarke chirped, and Lexa looked up with a smile.

"Good morning," she replied. "When are you going to the Louvre?"

"Whenever you go to take pictures, I guess," Clarke replied, sitting down on her still warm bed and grabbing her phone off of the nightstand. For the first time in about five days, she had no new messages. She smiled cheekily at the brunette and added, "So that you can tell me which train to take, because you know I'd take the wrong one if you didn't."

"You know there are maps everywhere that tell you which routes go where, right?"

"Maps are confusing."

Lexa rolled her eyes, sliding her legs out from under her blanket as she made to get up out of her bed. Clarke glanced down at her blank phone, and then back up at Lexa as the other girl began talking, "Either way, I'll be ready to go in fifteen."

"Cool," Clarke replied, smiling at the brunette, who then disappeared into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later found the two of them exiting the hotel and heading for the nearest metro station, and then after detailed instructions on how to get to Louvre from Lexa, Clarke split off from the brunette as they went their separate ways for the day.

She was actually quite proud of herself when she reached the Louvre after only getting lost once, on the way from the metro station to the art museum itself. She'd had to stop someone on the sidewalk and ask where to go, though her French communication skills, or lack thereof, required her to basically just look confused and say, "The Louvre?" in order for the man to understand what she needed. He pointed in the direction of it, looking slightly annoyed, and then took off down the road.

After that, though, Clarke found the museum with no problem.

She entered the courtyard area first, where the giant glass pyramid was. The area was crowded with people, which made sense, since it was nearing midday, and the museum had been open for a few hours.

Before she went into the museum and actually got tickets to view the exhibits, she found herself buying a sandwich, which tasted literally like heaven, from a little place in the courtyard. Sitting by herself to eat it felt a little weird, but she didn't really mind. She watched the people around her, a lot of them very clearly tourists. She saw some typical touristy couples, holding hands and smiling at one another non stop, and then a few typical touristy families, with bored or excited kids following around stressed out looking parents.

When she was done eating, she didn't know exactly where to go, so she followed a staircase down into the ground, and somehow ended up at the ticket booth she'd needed to find. She bought herself a ticket into the museum, feeling lucky when she realized that the cashier spoke English fairly well, and began exploring.

Though looking at other people's artwork usually wasn't extremely appealing to Clarke, if it was inside of a museum, she was instantly engaged. She found herself ignoring most of the statues that she initially passed, but once she found herself surrounded by paintings, and was in awe. Painting was something that she enjoyed, but hadn't ever practiced doing much. Sketching was usually what she did, and since it was just a hobby, she didn't do it as much as she would have liked to.

Had she chosen to pursue art as a career, or if she ever chose to, she would want to develop her painting skill. She liked to draw, but the idea of creating such amazing images with paint was even more enticing to her.

She spent sometimes up to ten minutes looking at a single painting, but once it around three in the afternoon, she began to pick up her a pace a little. She didn't know for how long Lexa planned on taking pictures, but she didn't want to leave the brunette hanging because she'd spent hours and hours staring at pieces of art.

Plus, some of it seemed to become a little repetitive. She suddenly found a room crowded with people, and curiously joined the crowd as she peered past them to see what they were looking at. She saw the Mona Lisa and her eyes widened – leave it to her to completely forget it was even in the Louvre. She found herself taking a picture of it mostly because that's what everyone around her was doing, but she wasn't eager to stick around in the crowd.

As she walked out of the room and turned into another hallway of paintings, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her messenger bag. She retrieved it, realizing that she hadn't gotten any texts or messages at all while she'd been at the museum.

The text she received was from Lexa, so she opened it.

 **From Lexa – You haven't gotten lost or died, right? ;)**

A small smile played on the blonde's face as she typed out a reply.

 **To Lexa – Nope! I just saw the Mona Lisa! :D**

The brunette didn't reply, and after a moment, Clarke slid her phone back into her bag and started down the next hallway. She stopped at one, and after a few minutes, she suddenly felt two hands poke into her sides, and she squealed as she spun around to see a grinning Lexa. "What the fuck?" she gasped, though she wasn't mad once she saw Lexa's face.

"Hey," the brunette said.

"Hi," Clarke replied, rolling her eyes at the girl's nonchalance about scaring the shit out of her, "I thought you hated museums? Also, how did you know where I was?"

"Well, I was looking for you for about twenty minutes, but this place is huge. So, I texted you, and you conveniently told me where you were," Lexa reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, right," Clarke said, laughing lightly. "Did you finish taking pictures?"

"Mmhmm," Lexa hummed in response, "I thought about finding something to do while you were here, but I couldn't think of anything. Though, I'm regretting not staying out of this place, considering how many painted and sculpted penises I had to see to get to this part of the museum."

Clarke let out a laugh at the unexpected comment, and she caught the smile that appeared on Lexa's face, making it clear that her intention had been to get Clarke to laugh. "It's art," the blonde insisted.

"Whatever," Lexa said, rolling her eyes. "Are you almost done staring at hundreds of years old paintings?"

"Maybe," Clarke replied, quirking an eyebrow as she continued by asking, "why?"

"Well," Lexa said, stretching out the word, "I want to take you out to dinner." Clarke felt her cheeks flush, and she bit the inside of her lip. Lexa was looking at her with those intense green eyes, and Clarke felt herself getting lost in them before finally smiling.

"Okay," she said, "then I guess I'm almost done."

Lexa smiled in return and said, "I saw a place on the map when I was trying to figure out how to get here from where I was at. It's kinda fancy looking, though, so we'll probably have to go back to the hotel to change first."

"Well, I brought like one sort of fancy outfit, so beware," Clarke said, giving the brunette a small smile.

"Same," her companion replied, returning the smile, "but it's fine. It's not like super fancy. Just..."

Clarke glanced down at herself and then looked back at Lexa, asking, "Just nicer than leggings and a t-shirt?" The other girl chuckled and nodded.

"Exactly."

"Okay, well, let me just look at the rest of this hallway, and then I'll be good to go," Clarke said, smiling sweetly at Lexa, who nodded, albeit reluctantly. Lexa proceeded to follow Clarke around as the girl looked at the art, and the blonde became increasingly aware of her restlessness. Finally, she found herself smiling with amusement at the fact that Lexa was clearly bored out of her mind, and she turned away from the painting she'd been looking at and faced her instead. "Let's go."

"But you're not done yet."

"You clearly are," Clarke said, quirking a small smile and grabbing Lexa's hand and pulling her in the direction she thought was the exit, "and I don't need to look anymore. They're sort of repetitive anyway."

"So why do you want to look at so many?" It seemed like Lexa honestly didn't get the appeal, and Clarke wasn't sure that she could really explain it.

Shrugging, she tried, "I don't know, it's just... I just do. I can't really explain it."

"I guess I'll never understand," the brunette joked, though she was serious, and Clarke just smiled, rolling her eyes.

They got back to the hotel and took the bathroom in turns to get ready. Both of them did their makeup a bit more – though neither of them acknowledged or commented on the other doing so – and changed into different clothing. The fanciest thing that Clarke could throw together was dark wash skinny jeans and a loose and somewhat clinging sky blue blouse. Luckily, she'd brought her sky blue flats that she usually wore with the top. She had not imagined herself needing anything fancy for her brief trip to London, so she hadn't brought anything.

She knew that Lexa had brought a couple of dresses with her – she saw them hanging out of the girl's suitcase after she spent a handful of minutes looking for some article of clothing or another – but she didn't wear either of them. Clarke took that as a sign that the restaurant they were going to definitely wasn't too fancy.

When they were both more than presentable – and Clarke had swallowed thickly in order to manage to talk after seeing Lexa in black skinny jeans and a red top that clung, and with red lipstick on her already so tempting lips – they left the hotel again. This time, Clarke just had her purse with her, not her whole messenger bag. Lexa always carried her one small purse, but Clarke had a feeling that her camera was still tucked into it. After all, the brunette had said that she took it with her everywhere.

The restaurant that Lexa had found was sitting further up the Seine River than they'd gone – or maybe it was further down... Clarke wasn't exactly sure. It definitely a bit fancy, and Clarke was not used to fancy restaurants. Lexa seemed a bit less fazed by the place, so Clarke did her best to blend in.

They spent about two hours at the restaurant, from about six in the evening until eight, and Clarke had to admit that it was easily the best date that she'd ever been on. The food, first of all, was great, and the restaurant was beautiful. She also sipped wine throughout the meal, which was way better than most wines that she'd had back at home. Even though Lexa was paying, however, she tried not to order anything too expensive. She would feel bad if she made the brunette pay a lot of money. Lexa had insisted that she get nice wine, however.

It was her date herself, Lexa, who made the date so amazing, though. For one thing, Clarke could never be bored when she was with Lexa – though she'd already recognized that after the past few days. It was just easy to be around her, whether they were talking or not. They actually did talk a lot throughout dinner, and Clarke actually briefly told Lexa about her friends back in DC. In turn, the brunette talked about her friends in NYC. She'd met them all in college, apparently, where the brunette had majored in history and minored in photography at NYU. Neither of those surprised Clarke, but Lexa seemed slightly surprised to learn that Clarke had actually started college with the intent of going into politics, before deciding that she hated it and abandoning her quest after getting her bachelor in political science.

When they'd both finished dinner, Lexa ordered crème brulee, which Clarke stole a bite from before the brunette could even take one. She was too full to have anymore when Lexa laughed and offered her half, but she instantly decided that French crème brulee was far better than any that she'd had in America.

Lexa paid for their meals without any protest from Clarke, then they left the restaurant and ended up walking along the railing that separated the sidewalk from the Seine a bit below them. They were quiet at first as they walked, their hands already intertwined, until Clarke finally flashed Lexa a smile and said, "Thanks for dinner."

"My pleasure," the brunette replied, smiling sweetly at the blonde. Clarke's gaze dropped down to Lexa's red lips for a moment before she pulled it away. Lexa's thumb began ghost over the skin on the back of Clarke's hand, and blue eyes dropped down to look at the motion.

Before she knew it, though, Lexa had stopped moving, causing the blonde to stop as well. Clarke gave her a questioning glance for the split second that she could look at Lexa, but suddenly found herself pulled against the other girls, and her lips were being firmly kissed by Lexa's.

It was intoxicating as she immediately kissed her back, leaning into the brunette like she depended on the support, which she thought she might actually, considering that her legs felt slightly weak all of the sudden. Clarke hummed into the kiss, and Lexa gently took her bottom lip into her mouth, tugging and sucking on it gingerly.

Lexa's hand was on the side of Clarke's face, pushing away some of her soft blonde hair, and then tangling into it instead. Clarke's hands, however, were resting carefully on Lexa's hips, and she could think of nothing but the feeling of the brunette's incredibly soft lips on her own.

Finally, though, their lips separated by some mutual agreement, and Clarke's blue eyes flickered between Lexa's. "What was that for?" she whispered, her voice breathy and quiet.

"No reason," the brunette murmured, a small smile appearing on her face, "I have just kind of wanted to do that for a while."


	7. Chapter 7

Clarke found it slightly hard to sleep that night, mostly because once she'd gotten ready for bed, and Lexa was still in the shower, her heart would still not stop racing. It was only about an hour after their kiss, and her body was still reacting to it. She'd already known that she had feelings for Lexa – obviously – but she had not imagined that kissing her would turn her literally into a nervous mess. Or perhaps it wasn't even nerves she was feeling, but just a general exhilaration.

She tried to squeeze her eyes closed and fall asleep, because she knew that if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to once Lexa was up still, organizing the last of her pictures from Paris on her laptop. Unlike the previous night, Clarke was not yet tired enough to just pass out in bed.

After realizing that sleep was impossible, she sat up in her bed and grabbed her sketchbook out of her messenger bag that was sitting on the floor next to said bed – a distraction. She would've used her phone, but on their way back from their date, it kept going off, and she didn't want whatever messages on it to lower her elation.

As she began sketching, she finally felt herself calm down. The metro ride back to the hotel had really done nothing to calm her down, since she'd had to sit a bit close to the brunette, so she finally felt her heart rate even out once she was drawing.

The sound of the shower running stopped abruptly, but Clarke kept her attention on her sketchbook, where she was drawing the shape of the Notre-Dame that she'd drilled into her brain from looking at it across the Seine. It was a decent distraction, but when the bathroom door opened, she couldn't keep her blue eyes down at the paper.

Lexa didn't seem to notice when the blonde glanced up at her, though, so Clarke quickly focused back on her drawing.

"Are you not tired?" the brunette asked suddenly, stealing Clarke's gaze again.

"Not really," she admitted.

"Lucky," Lexa said, seating herself on her hotel bed with her laptop in front of her. "I'm exhausted."

"That's because you don't sleep enough, and you run around cities like a maniac taking pictures," Clarke stated, smiling when Lexa laughed lightly in response.

"That's true," she agreed, plugging her camera's memory card into her computer. "So... should we check out tomorrow?" Green eyes bounced over to where Clarke was sitting on her bed, and Clarke shrugged.

"Sure."

"I'm going to take the Thalys high speed train thing to get from here to Brussels, in Belgium," Lexa said, before pausing and letting silence settle for a few moments. "You gonna come?"

Clarke felt a small smile creep onto her face, because the answer was obvious to her, but Lexa still seemed like she didn't know. "Unless you'd rather I don't," the blonde replied, quirking up an eyebrow in amusement.

Lexa rolled her eyes as she smiled a pleased smile. "Okay. I'm gonna book a room there now, so."

"Okay," Clarke agreed, before blinking in realization. "Uh, how much is my share of this room? I can just give you the cash..."

"No, don't worry about it." Lexa's gaze was focused directly on her computer now, and Clarke narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Lexa, I don't want you to pay for my whole stay," she argued.

Lexa was shaking her head. "I asked you to come with me, Clarke. And I know you're avoiding using any cards because your mom probably has access to them, and would be able to find you. And I don't blame you, but I know you can't have unlimited cash stuffed in your wallet. And I have no problem paying for you."

"But –"

"Seriously, Clarke, please let me pay."

Clarke found herself nodding, and smiling gratefully at the blonde. "Thanks." Lexa just smiled in return, her attention going back to her computer as she went to book a hotel in Brussels. Going back to her sketchbook, the blonde found herself settling comfortably against her pillow. As Lexa did things on her computer, Clarke drew, and this went on for nearly an hour before the blonde began to finally feel tired.

She closed her sketchbook and lazily dropped it on top of her bag, before checking that her phone was plugged in – she still didn't want to look at it – and finally sliding down under her covers. Lexa glanced over her and sent her a soft smile. "Goodnight."

"You should really sleep," Clarke murmured, burying half of her face into her pillow but still looking up at the brunette.

"I will, soon," Lexa said, waving her hand at Clarke playfully. "We can check out anytime before one, so we'll be fine. And once we're on the train to Brussels, it only takes an hour to get there. We're not staying far from the train station either, so."

"Whatever you say," Clarke mumbled, drawing a light laugh from the other girl.

"Go to bed, Clarke."

"Mkay."

Clarke knew that it was early before she opened her eyes, because she was unbelievably exhausted, and she just couldn't figure out why she was up so early. As she forced her eyes open and saw that there was hardly any light even trying to peak through the curtains over the window, she let out a sigh. She was probably only up this early since she knew that she didn't need to be.

Or maybe it was because her phone kept vibrating noisily on the nightstand, and had actually done so enough to be half hanging off of the surface. Clarke's eyes widened as she realized that it was about to fall off and make even more noise, and she forced herself to sit up and unplug it, viewing her lock screen to see who had been sending her so many notifications.

They were from Raven, and Octavia, and the only reason Clarke unlocked her phone to read them was to make sure that nothing was wrong.

She immediately realized why they'd texted her – Raven was clearly very drunk and was texting her barely comprehensible text messages. Clarke quickly tried to figure out what time it was in DC, and realized with a bit of relief that it was only midnight – it was presently six in the morning in Paris. She was further comforted by the texts she'd begun receiving from Octavia, which ensured that Raven was with her and was fine.

The last text from Octavia, though, made Clarke let out a sigh.

 **From Crazy O's – I hope u come back soon. Rae had a long day so I offered 2 take her out, so I don't blame her for being drunk. But I'm trying 2 take care of her and she won't let me, bc apparently she only lets u. Get ur ass back here pls.**

Clarke sighed, and her phone vibrated again, indicating another text from Raven.

 **From Rae Bae – O iss makin m go 2 slep or smth soOoOoo byeee call mee pls.**

 **From Rae Bae – JK shee cant gemme off th flor hHa**

Clarke knew how Raven could be when she was drunk, and she quickly crawled out of her bed and slipped into the bathroom to call her best friend. The worst part about her needing to be away from DC was that she had to leave her friends hanging, and she officially felt bad about it. Octavia had never had to take care of Raven drunk before, because Clarke had always been there. Even when Clarke herself was drunk, she could take care of the other girl. They always took care of each other. After all, they'd been doing it for years. Even though Raven and Octavia lived together, they only had for a year, after Clarke and Raven had ended their lease on their shared apartment so that the blonde could move in with her boyfriend.

She found herself clicking the call button by her best friend's contact, and Raven answered immediately. "Clarke!" Raven exclaimed, stretching the 'r' out, her words clearly slurred. "Are you coming home?"

"Not yet, Rae," Clarke replied, sighing. "I heard you had a fun night."

"Yea, O took me to... uh, I forgot the name. Lots of lights, and music. You woulda liked it," Raven insisted, and Clarke thought that she heard Octavia sigh and pictured her collapsing into their couch, exasperated.

"I'm sure," Clarke replied.

"Did you just wake up?" Raven muttered, sounding surprisingly calm. "You sound tired."

"It's six in the morning here, babe," Clarke reminded her best friend. "But I'm always here for you when you're drunk, you know that."

"Where you been all week?" Raven whined.

Clarke let out a long sigh, her eyes flickering closed. "I have to be away right now, Raven, you'd understand if you knew what it felt like to feel so hopeless. I haven't felt anything good in weeks, until I got to Europe. Maybe I'll be able to explain it to you when I get back, but that might not be for a little while."

"How long? I miss you," Raven muttered, clearly put off.

"I don't know, Rae," Clarke replied, "I'm kind of winging it. But I promise it won't be more than a couple of weeks. You know I can't leave you for that long."

"This is already the longest you've been away from me, you know?" Raven admitted, suddenly sounding far more sober. "Not fair."

"I'm sorry, Raven, really," Clarke said, sighing. "I'm sorry that you have to take collateral damage from my life falling apart. I didn't want that. But you have to understand that it's what is best for me right now."

"It's best for you to be away from me?" Raven whined.

"It's not about you, Raven," Clarke insisted. She paused, taking in a breath. "It's about my dad, and Finn, and me losing my job. It's about what'shere, making me feel like there are things out in the world that can fill me with energy and adrenaline that I haven't felt in about a month. There are just too many factors in DC that counteract the good things. And you can't be here – you have a job and an apartment to help pay for and... this is just the only way right now, babe."

Raven let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I still miss you though."

"I know," Clarke said. She regathered her focus. "You giving O a hard time for trying to get you to bed?"

"I don't wanna go to bed..."

"You want some water?"

"No."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "You wanna vomit up your insides?"

"No."

"So go get some water," the blonde insisted.

"Can't move. My legs are glued to the floor," Raven said, getting Clarke to laugh lightly.

"Get up, Raven, don't make Octavia drag you across your apartment," Clarke directed, and she heard a groan from the other end of the line as her best friend pulled herself up. Then there was a clatter as the phone must've fallen from her grasp, and the next person who was speaking was Octavia.

"How the fuck do you get her to get up by herself?" the girl demanded. "I've been trying to get her to move for like twenty minutes since we got home."

"Honestly, no idea," Clarke admitted. "She just listens to me. After she drinks the water, she should be good to go straight to sleep in bed."

"Cool," Octavia said, sighing. "Thanks."

"Sure."

"Sorry for waking you up. I didn't wanna ask for your help, but I figured I should at least let you know that she's okay. Didn't want you to wake to a bunch of drunk texts without context. She'll hate herself in the morning. I didn't mean for her to drink this much, but she doesn't have work until noon tomorrow, so she has some time in the morning to get herself together," Octavia explained.

"She'll survive," Clarke said, letting out a breath. "And don't worry about waking me up. Gives me time to pack up my stuff."

She flinched as soon as the words left her mouth, because she could feel Octavia's mood shifting. "Wait, are you coming back?"

"No... just going somewhere else."

"Where the fuck are you going?" Octavia demanded. "Where else do you need to be? You already left London and went god knows where, and now you suddenly have somewhere else to be? Are you avoiding home that much?"

"Yes, O, I am," Clarke answered, steeling herself. "Look, I don't expect you to get it. But I don't want to fight you about it either."

"Then maybe you should be doing something other than avoiding us all of the time," Octavia suggested, her voice cold.

Clarke took in a deep breath, glancing up at the mirror in the bathroom. Her hair was messy, her eyes tired. She had a feeling that she would be sleeping during that train right to Brussels. "Okay, fine. I won't avoid you two."

"Wait, seriously?"

"I'll call you guys once a day, as long as you don't talk to my mom about talking to me, or anyone else. I'm trying to stay distanced from everyone there. My mom would want to talk about my job at the bar, or my dad, or Finn, and anyone else would just ask me about where I was and why and I just... I don't want anyone else asking me about anything. Okay? Fair?"

"Fair," Octavia agreed easily. "But remember, that means technically you have to call us today, for your time."

"What time does Raven get off?"

"Six."

"I can't call you guys at midnight, I've been passed out by like eleven or eleven-thirty every night," Clarke said, running a hand through her hair. Even though it might be a little less separated from DC than she wanted it to be, the situation would probably work out well. She didn't want Raven to get drunk because she was gone, and she didn't want Octavia to have to deal with that.

"Fine, text us tonight then before you go to bed – or at least text Raven – and then call us on Friday sometime after three in the afternoon our time. Raven works early again that day," Octavia proposed.

"Okay," Clarke agreed. "I'll talk to you guys later then. Make sure Raven takes an Advil the first time she wakes up, or there is no way she's going to work at noon."

"Gotcha. Have a good day."

"Goodnight," the blonde returned, and then the call ended.

Deciding that it was definitely early enough for Clarke to go back to sleep, she slipped out of the bathroom and headed back for her bed. Lexa suddenly stirred from her bed, though, and her eyes flickered open and looked to Clarke. "Who were you talking to?" she mumbled sleepily.

"A friend," Clarke replied. "Go back to sleep."

"I thought you were avoiding everyone?"

Clarke gave the brunette a soft smile and said, "Well, my best friend is drunk, and I'm the only one who can get her to stop laying across the floor like its a mattress and actually go to bed."

"Oh."

Clarke wasn't even sure if Lexa had comprehended what the blonde had said, because she looked so tired. It was amusing, actually. "Sleep, Lexa, you definitely have not had enough of that lately. Don't worry, I'm going back to bed too."

Four hours later, at ten in the morning, Clarke was waking up, this time due to the internal alarm clock that apparently existed within her brain. Lexa was passed out again, so just like every morning, Clarke hopped up and began her routine of getting ready.

When she was done, she began packing up her stuff from the bathroom, and as she bustled around to make sure that she wad done before Lexa had to go in the bathroom, the brunette began to wake up. "Morning," she murmured.

"Good morning," Clarke replied, smiling brightly as she realized that she felt really good. After her conversation with her best friends that morning, something like almost complete relief had spread through her body. She had a deal worked out with her friends that would make them feel better, and her less guilty. Plus, she was feeling refreshed after finishing off her needed sleep.

"Well someone's happy," Lexa muttered, pulling herself up.

"There are lots of things to be happy about."

"Mmhmm," Lexa agreed, stretching her arms up over her head. "Am I crazy, or did you wake up at like four in the morning to take a phone call?"

"It was six in the morning," Clarke corrected, "so you're only half crazy."

"Gee, thanks," Lexa said, though a smile tugged at her lips as she pulled her blankets off of herself. Clarke disappeared into the bathroom to grab her shampoo out of the shower, and that was the last of the things that she'd left in there. "You done in there?"

"Yep," the blonde replied. "It's all yours, and I'm all ready to go as soon as you are."

"Now who's the responsible one?" Lexa asked, smirking as she got up off of her bed and headed into the bathroom. Clarke blushed, but the brunette didn't see it.

Two hours later found them checked out of their hotel, Lexa finishing up the payment for it and Clarke letting her do so, and boarding a high speed train that would take them from Paris to Brussels in less than two hours. They'd bought second class tickets, because Clarke had commented that they were cheaper after clearly making the point that she wanted to pay for her train ticket. Lexa did not object to that or taking second class over first class.

Clarke had by now definitely suspected that Lexa came from a somewhat wealthy family, or that she at least had quite a bit of money of her own. She felt like it would be rude to ask, but she didn't really mind not knowing, and even if she knew one way or the other, she was sure it wouldn't bother her either way. So they found themselves sitting in the second class part of the red train, on their way out of France and into Belgium.

They talked for about a total of half of the trip, and Clarke further explained the situation with Raven that had caused her take the phone call that morning. Lexa seemed to think that her decision to call her friends once a day was a good idea, which furthered Clarke's good mood. Her happiness was actually quite off the charts in comparison to how she'd been for the past month or so. It was a combination of being in Europe, since the sights and atmosphere itself had contributed to her change in mindset, her deal with her best friends, and, of course, Lexa.

Every time she looked at Lexa, she remembered the kiss they'd shared the previous night, and she couldn't wipe the sense of elation from her thoughts, nor did she want to. Rather, she wanted to feel it again, by feeling Lexa's lips against hers once again.

The second half of the ride was spent with Clarke drawing, and Lexa pulling her computer out. Apparently, she had a file system for all of her pictures on her computer, and she wanted to set up the ones from Belgium now so that she could easily sort them later.

When the train was nearing Brussels, Clarke slipped her sketchbook into her bag, and Lexa did the same with her laptop. Then, she blinked and said, "Oh, by the way." Clarke looked at her curiously as she began to do something on her phone, and then the blonde felt her phone vibrate. She'd received a picture message from the brunette.

Opening it up, she saw three pictures, from their night on top of the Eiffel Tower. The first two actually weren't too bad, though the last one was as ridiculous as Clarke recalled it being. "Oh god," the blonde said, laughing lightly and shaking her head. "I still can't believe you started taking pictures of me when I wasn't looking."

Lexa grinned. "I can't help that you're photogenic."

"I'm not," Clarke argued, rolling her eyes as she locked her phone again and set it down, and then looked back to Lexa. The other girl was furrowing her eyebrows.

"Uh, you are," Lexa argued. "I'm the photographer, here, so I think you should trust my professional opinion."

"Oh, really?" Clarke asked, laughing lightly. Lexa nodded firmly, and just as Clarke was going to say something else, the train was pulling to a stop. Something came over a speaker in the train in French, but Clarke didn't even try to figure out what it said, nor did she even try to figure what language came after it. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't French. "Okay, uh... what language do they speak in Belgium? I feel so stupid."

"Depends on where in," Lexa replied, and as she continued, Clarke couldn't help but be amused at the fact that somehow Lexa just knew the answer. "Some places speak French, some speak Dutch, some speak German. There's also Flemish, which is like... Belgian Dutch sort of, in Flanders. I'm pretty sure everyone kind of just speaks all of those in Brussels, though."

"Cool, so basically, I won't understand anything," Clarke said, chuckling.

Lexa smiled. "Were you expecting to?"

"I guess not."

They retrieved their bags and hurried off the train, and Clarke had to follow Lexa through the train station they were in to escape it. As soon as they got out, though, Clarke took in a breath. The architecture of the city was actually amazing. "Pretty nice, huh?" Lexa said, seemingly amused at Clarke's wide eyes.

"Uh, yes."

"Okay, so we're going to take a bus to the hotel... I think. There should be a bus station around here," Lexa said, pulling out her phone as if to check herself. Clarke watched her read the small map with concern, and then the brunette's brow smoothed out and she looked up again. "Okay yeah, it's pretty close."

"Cool," Clarke said. "Oh, by the way."

Lexa looked at the blonde curiously, and Clarke surprised her by closing the distance in between them with her lips. Lexa immediately relaxed into the kiss, which ended only a moment later. The brunette definitely looked upset by the loss of the contact, and she muttered, "Wow, what a tease."

"Didn't you say something about a bus?" Clarke smirked as Lexa rolled her eyes. Before they started to the bus station, Lexa's hand firmly grabbed the blonde's, as if in some sort of revenge for only receiving a short kiss. Clarke felt her cheeks become pink as she walked alongside her beautiful, brunette companion, feeling her heart warm happily. A smile was painted easily across her face and well... it was just a good day. That was for sure.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are Brussels Sprouts from Brussels?" Clarke couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind since they'd arrived in the Belgian capital. They were currently waiting for the bus they were on to stop near enough to their hotel, which was, according to Lexa, actually pretty close to the Grand Place. Clarke assumed that that was pretty much the center of the city.

Lexa laughed at the question and said, "I guess so?"

"Oh wow, finally a question you don't know the answer to," Clarke joked, smirking a little at the brunette sitting next to her. "You're not as omniscient as I thought you were." The other girl rolled her eyes, and Clarke couldn't help the smile that was stuck on her face.

"Can I redeem myself by telling you something I do know?"

Clarke quirked up an eyebrow. "Maybe."

"There's a little statue near the Grand Place in the city called Manneken Pis. It's a fountain statue of a little man peeing."

Clarke busted out into laughter, because even though she figured that Lexa was being completely serious, she couldn't help but think it was hilarious. She desperately wanted to see this fountain thing to make sure that Lexa wasn't just messing with her. When she finally began to calm down, and her breathing was evening out, she realized that Lexa was grinning at seeing her laugh so hard. "Are you serious?"

"Completely," Lexa answered, her smile not faltering at all. "We can walk from the Grand Place to our hotel, and from there we can also walk to see it. So I'll prove it to you if you really don't believe me."

"No, I believe you... it just seems so weird," Clarke said, still incredibly amused. "But I still wanna see it."

"What a typical tourist," Lexa tutted teasingly.

"Hey, I'd never left the US before last week, and I'd only been to like six states total – and two of those are Virginia and Maryland, which hardly counts since Washington DC is literally inside both," Clarke defended herself, though the amused smile crossing Lexa's face didn't bother her at all. Suddenly, the bus was stopping, and Lexa was moving to get off.

After a few moments, they were suddenly looking across what Clarke knew had to be the previously mentioned Grand Place. It was like a huge plaza, surrounded by the same grand architecture as that surrounding the train station. People flooded the area, a mix of tourists and people who definitely seemed to live in the city. "This place is awesome," Clarke declared. "I feel like there would be so much stuff to draw."

"You're gonna love Brugge," Lexa said.

"What's that?" Clarke wondered, as she followed Lexa through the Grand Place, assuming that they were heading toward their hotel. They both had their bags with them, of course, dragging their suitcases behind them and with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Clarke hardly noticed the weight of them, however, because she felt light and excited and happy.

"It's a little town about an hour like.. north west from here, I guess. It's beautiful there. I have to go there for a day trip, either tomorrow or the day after," Lexa explained. "It's really amazing, I bet you'll wanna draw everything there."

"I already want to draw everything here," Clarke said, smiling. "I can definitely see why you'd come here to take pictures. Are you going to start taking them today?"

Lexa shook her head. "If I spent a lot of tomorrow taking pictures here, and then a lot of the day after taking pictures in Brugge, I should be able to get them all done. I'd rather not tonight. I don't like taking a lot of pictures after traveling. I'd rather just enjoy myself."

"We're on the same page there. So what are we gonna do tonight?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Lexa replied.

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but I have no idea what there even is to do here. So you're in charge, whether it matters to you or not."

Smiling, the brunette sad, "Don't worry, I have an idea." They were quiet as they finished their walk to the hotel, and when they reached it, Clarke was relieved. Walking around cities was something she was possibly starting to get used to, but carrying luggage at the same time was an entirely different feat she did not enjoy attempting.

She let Lexa handle the check in as she stood off to the side about, looking around. The woman at the front desk spoke English fairly well, however, so it didn't take long before they were on their way up to their room.

It was another room with two beds, though they seemed a bit smaller than the typical queen sized beds in other hotels. Clarke hardly minded, though, and immediately tossed her backpack onto one of them. "Please don't tell me we're going to have to drag all of this shit back to the train station to leave this place." Lexa's amused smile told the blonde that she was out of luck, and she let out an annoyed groan.

"Would it make you feel better to go see a peeing statue and then get food?" Lexa asked, smirking as the blonde relaxed at the mention of food.

"Yes," she breathed out gratefully.

They took turns using the bathroom in the hotel room and then Clarke dug her empty and squashed messenger bag out of her backpack, slid her phone, wallet and sketchbook into it, and she was ready to go.

Brussels was a pretty lively city, with a lot of people roaming around and talking in a multitude of languages. Clarke and Lexa talked the whole time they were walking through it, and when they reached the Manneken Pis, Clarke broke out into a fit of laughter. The little man was nestled on a perch above the fountain, with a stream of water coming out of his penis. Lexa was grinning at Clarke's amusement, even though a few people were looking at them kind of weird as they passed, and when the blonde could talk again, she said, "That's so weird. What's it's purpose?"

"I think it's supposed to represent like... rebellious spirit or something," Lexa admitted, shrugging. "I think it's kinda cool."

"It is pretty funny, though," Clarke said, flashing a wide smile at the brunette, who couldn't help but smile as well.

"Mmhmm," she agreed. "So, hungry?"

They found their way to some restaurant that looked pretty decent, and Clarke had her first taste of Belgian food – at least she assumed that's what it was. It was pretty good, though she really had no idea what it was since the menu hadn't been in English.

When they were done eating, it was starting to get a bit later, nearing seven in the evening. Normally, they probably would've tried to find something to do, but they decided instead to call it an early night. Lexa admitted that she probably needed some more sleep anyway, and Clarke agreed with her, so they headed back to the hotel.

Clarke took the bathroom first, and then found herself sprawled across her bed backwards, propping herself up on her left arm as she sketched Brussels' Grand Place. She could tell as she did it that it wasn't perfect, but it looked pretty cool nevertheless. As she drew, she suddenly recalled that she needed to text Raven before going to bed.

As she unlocked and opened her phone, the first thing she saw were the images that Lexa had sent to her from their night at the Eiffel Tower. Smiling to herself, she saved the pictures to her phone and then went to her photo app to check that they were saved. Upon clicking the app, her gaze caught on the video she'd made on her second day in London, the one where she hadn't followed Lexa around to the London Eye.

She clicked on it and listened to herself from nearly a week ago talk.

"Hey, guys, I'm in London right now. It's pretty nice. Though I think I'm lost, now that I look around. I'll have to walk back to my hotel – this is why I didn't take the tube. Which is crazy, by the way, there are so many people. Probably why I've never been big on public transportation. Anyway, I was on it yesterday, because this girl who is staying at the same hotel as me invited me to go with her. She's needed to take pictures or something. We went on the London Eye – you know, the ferris wheel? It was pretty cool, actually. I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights, though, because that whole thing was made of fucking glass. The view was awesome."

Clarke of the video sighed, her blue eyes looked dulled and expressing how lost the girl felt. Present day Clarke frowned at the expression.

"I don't know why I'm making this video. I'm not going to send it to you guys. I probably won't show you even when I get home. You'll probably never see this. I just hope you guys understand why I'm here. If you don't, I guess you will have to one day. I'll probably be back in a few days. I don't know what else I'll do... Bye."

The video ended, freezing on a frame of her face, and the blonde sighed. She knew now why she'd made the video – she'd felt extremely alone, and even though that was the point, she wasn't used to it. Maybe that was why she found herself jumping at the chance to have Lexa as a companion, besides the fact that the girl was absolutely amazing anyway. Her finger hovered over her screen as she debated whether or not to delete the video. Like she had said in it, she probably wouldn't ever show anyone.

But why not? What was the big deal about showing it? It was the perfect evidence of how even after just two days out of DC, things had begun to get better for her.

The sound of the shower turning off in the bathroom broke Clarke out of her thoughts, and she remembered why she'd gotten on her phone in the first place.

 **To Rae Bae – Hey, Raven. I guess O probably told you about the deal she and I made. I wish I could call you today, but you get off work late. Lame. It's been kind of a long day, so I'll probably be going to sleep soon. You better have gone to work today, by the way, or else I got up at six in the fucking morning to get you to go to bed for no reason. Love you, talk to you tomorrow.**

As she looked at the text message, she found herself suddenly clicking the "add media" button and adding the video from London. She added to the message.

… **This is a video I recorded pretty randomly when I was in London. Maybe it'll help you realize why I left.**

She sent the message, and then clicked out of her conversation with her best friend and found her text messages with Octavia.

 **To Crazy O's – Goodnight, I'll call you guys tomorrow once Raven gets off work.**

The response from her other friend was almost immediate.

 **From Crazy O's – Assuming you texted Raven already :P Sleep well, wherever you are. X**

Clarke tossed her phone behind her somewhere and resumed drawing, feeling at ease now that she had both gotten the video off of her chest, and texted her best friend again after the drunk incident. A few more minutes into her sketch, and the time was nearing eight in the evening. Her body was feeling tired, but she still felt pretty awake mentally.

The bathroom door opened suddenly, revealing Lexa wrapped only in a towel. Clarke's eyes widened once she looked up and saw the half naked girl making her way to her suitcase. Lexa smirked, apparently catching Clarke out of the corner of her eye. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Clarke lied, though she was not really trying very hard to hide the truth.

"Mmhmm," Lexa hummed. "I forgot my clothes."

"Clearly."

As Lexa passed Clarke again with her clothes now in hand, they locked gazes for a moment and then the brunette leaned down suddenly, so that had Clarke's eyes not fluttered shut by the kiss she suddenly felt on her lips, she would've been facing straight down Lexa's cleavage.

Lexa owned her lips for a few moments in the sort of awkward positioning, and Clarke hummed against the girl's lips despite her surprise. But she was pulling away all too quickly and heading back into the bathroom, leaving Clarke to stare for a split second at her bare legs. Groaning slightly once the brunette was in the bathroom again to change, Clarke rolled over on her bed, her hair probably covering her sketchbook. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering if it was weird, this thing between her and Lexa. They'd only just met six days ago – the next day, Friday, would be the week mark of Clarke running away from her friends and family and arriving in London.

Technically, though, she left a week from that day – Thursday, and arrived at midnight that night, but that was technically Friday.

Shaking her head at the logistics, she forced herself to sit up and close up her sketchbook. She didn't feel much like drawing, though she didn't have much else to do. She had her laptop with her, but she hadn't used it at all during her trip yet, since there wasn't much for her to do on it.

Clarke really hadn't planned for a trip over a few days long, but luckily, she was feeling pretty tired anyway. So she curled up in her bed, laying in it the way it was meant to be laid in, and letting her eyes fall shut.

It took her actually nearly two hours to fall asleep, completely, because she kept waking up accidentally for no reason. It was the first night that she'd not been able to sleep very easily, and she wasn't sure what was keeping her up. It definitely wasn't Lexa doing anything on her computer, because the brunette had gone to bed as soon as coming back out of the bathroom and had been out cold since.

Finally, though, she managed to fall asleep.

She awoke briefly at what she thought was probably four in the morning, because Lexa was up and dressed and armed with her camera. The brunette had cooed her back to sleep, saying that she needed to go take some early pictures and that she'd be back later. Clarke, half asleep still, had not argued.

She woke again for real at eight in the morning, though, and Lexa hadn't yet come back. The blonde felt extremely rested, though, which was nice. She began getting ready, and once she was clean and dressed and ready to experience Brussels once Lexa returned – she didn't want to leave until then – she unplugged her phone from where it had been charging and opened the text she had from Raven, from around one in the morning, which would've been seven in the evening for her best friend.

 **From Rae Bae – Yeah, O told me. And I do get why you left, C. Really, I do. I just wish you could've gotten through your funk here instead of leaving. And I did make it to work, so don't worry. :) Thanks to you :P Love you too, call me tomorrow because sober me lost all my best friend time to drunk me.**

Clarke smiled a little at the text, but didn't reply, because it was far too early in DC. Just as she was tossing her phone into her messenger bag, the door to the hotel room opened and Lexa appeared. "Good morning," she said happily, smiling at the blonde.

"Hey," Clarke replied. "Did you get all your early morning pictures?"

Lexa nodded. "Yep. And now I'm starving, because I haven't eaten anything all morning."

"Now that is something we have in common," Clarke said, perking up at the thought of breakfast.

"We have to try Belgian waffles," Lexa declared, "and I saw a place by Grand Place that we can walk to. If you feel like walking?"

"I'll survive," Clarke replied, "for the waffles."

Amused, the brunette nodded, and then they were out of the hotel room again, making their way out of the nice building and starting down the street toward Grand Place.

The place they ate at did definitely have a large waffle menu, and Clarke was sure that she had never seen so many options for waffles on a single menu. Pancakes, sure, but that was at places like iHop, and that did not count. Plus, waffles were so much better than pancakes.

Despite the fancy choices, both Clarke and Lexa opted for more simple plates, and the instant that Clarke took a bite, she was in love. She swore that she was never leaving the city, and Lexa laughed and asked with a smirk if she would at least leave the restaurant when they were done. Clarke had obviously said yes, but as she continued eating, she realized suddenly that Lexa genuinely wanted Clarke to be with her there, even when she was doing the work part of her being here and not the fun part. That was, after all, what they would spend the rest of the day doing.

She supposed that she should've figured that earlier, but realizing it now brought warmth to her chest and she smiled a little to herself as she finished her absolutely amazing breakfast.


	9. Chapter 9

**The italicized portion of this chapter is Lexa's POV when she was gone early and Clarke slept in. :)**

* * *

 _Lexa took in a deep breath, tired of walking and kneeling to take pictures. That was probably her least favorite thing about photographing, she was constantly kneeling on the ground or bending in weird ways to get good pictures. Walking bothered her less, but her legs were sore from walking to and through the park she was currently at. She'd taken a bus for about half of the journey, but her camera had called her off of the public transportation in the sudden need to take a spontaneous picture of a scene that had caught her eye._

 _She tended to do that sometimes, take pictures of things that weren't on her list. She couldn't help it, it's what she did. As a photographer, she took pictures of whatever she deemed worthy. Sitting down on wooden bench that faced the fountain in the middle of the park, Lexa found her thoughts wandering to Clarke. She hadn't lied to Clarke when she said that the blonde was photogenic – Lexa swore that every time she even looked to the blonde, she was picture ready. She was stunning._

 _Lexa had thought that since the first time she saw Clarke, sitting on the bus to the hotel they'd both been staying at by chance. The guy who was blabbering on next to her was clearly bothering her, and her eyebrows were knit in both frustration and probably deep thought as she contemplated how to rid herself of the annoyance. Despite her expression, she was still breathtaking, and Lexa nearly began holding her breath when she saw her._

 _Calling the mysterious blonde girl her girlfriend in order to stop the guy from bothering her had been on a complete whim, but it had worked, and Clarke hadn't been freaked out about it. Lexa had actually wondered later that night if she really did think it was weird, and was just being polite when she thanked her earlier, but two days later, they were on their way to Paris together. So clearly, that wasn't the case._

 _Clarke was like a bright light or some equivalent. Lexa had been to London, Paris, Brussels... she'd been to all the places they were going to, but at the time, she'd been heartbroken, lonely, devastated. The pictures she took were the grasps of joy she received, and every new thing she got to experience healed her a little more. She could tell that Europe was doing that for Clarke, too. She was becoming increasingly comfortable and relaxed._

 _But she wasn't just helping herself by being here, she was helping Lexa. The brunette wasn't sure if she would openly admit it just yet, but sheneeded Clarke here with her. Experiencing Europe by herself for a second time hadn't really been daunting until she arrived in Heathrow Airport and was immediately reminded of how lonely she had been the first time around. She knew that it couldn't be as bad, and the memories of the city itself were good. But being there again actually brought out the deep stuff – how she'd felt while she was there._

 _Seeing Clarke had been a moment of spark in her chest, knocking her out of the daze she'd fallen into as she made her way out of the airport. Two days later, she was unable to not ask Clarke to come with her to Paris, and beyond even. Being around Clarke was intoxicating, and it made her feel good even if they were just sitting or walking next to one another. The girl didn't even have to speak or do anything to light up the world around her._

 _Lexa definitely had feeling developing for the blonde, which grew significantly deeper every day. It didn't help that the blonde was fucking gorgeous, and Lexa repeatedly felt the urge to slam her lips against those adorable pink ones. She wouldn't let that get the best of her, though. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Clarke uncomfortable and abandon their journey together. She appreciated that more than she appreciated Clarke's absolutely enticing body._

 _The brunette looked down at her camera, clutched tightly in her hand. She released it, allowing it to sit on her lap, and retrieved her phone. She had a message from her best friend in New York, but after reading it and realizing that it was a "goodnight" message, she opted not to answer in fear of waking her up. Instead, she opened up her photo app and clicked on the picture of Clarke from the Eiffel Tower. Looking at it made her smile, and definitely made her want to take more pictures of the blonde. She decided that she would try, when they were in Brugge the following day._

 _To her, Clarke seemed nearly as interesting of a photo subject as most of the things she found herself taking pictures of in Europe. Maybe that was her feelings taking over her mind... no, it definitely was her feelings taking over her mind. But she wasn't bothered by it. She hadn't felt this way toward anyone in over five years, when she'd been with her girlfriend of two years, and before she was cheated on by her._

 _Lexa took in a deep breath and pocketed her phone. Europe this time around was definitely better, having someone amazing like Clarke with her definitely helped._

 _It was beginning to get later in the morning, and she knew that the blonde was probably awake by now, so she slid her camera into her purse and got up from the bench. Time to head back to the hotel._

* * *

Their first full day in Brussels was definitely eventful once they'd finished their breakfast. Lexa had a list of places she needed to take pictures, and though it wasn't super long, the traveling time added up so that it would take up most of their day until dinner time. Lexa seemed to feel bad at first for the amount of public transport they had to take, though Clarke minded the bus transport less than the subway transport they'd been using. Plus, the amount of walking they did do was enough to make the brief sit downs on the bus worth it.

Despite the time for transport, they actually managed to finish earlier than expected. Once Lexa announced proudly that she had no more photos to take, they headed back toward Grand Place. It was nearing four in the afternoon by then, and the brunette led Clarke purposefully through the streets of the beautiful city. Lexa wouldn't tell Clarke where they were going, but once Clarke saw the little statue of a girl squatting and peeing, she nearly face palmed.

"There's another one?" she asked, her eyes widening in amusement as she looked to the brunette.

"This one is called Jeanneke Pis," Lexa answered, "and there's actually another called Zinneke Pis, which is a dog."

Clarke laughed out loud, shaking her head. "Alright, not quite sure what this city's obsession with peeing is... but okay." Rolling her eyes, the brunette wondered aloud if there was anything Clarke wanted to see in particular, but a look from those blue eyes reminded her that the blonde had no idea what there was in the city.

Clarke could tell, however, that her companion had a place in mind. She questioned Lexa, and the girl admitted that she wanted to see a museum about Belgian history. Clarke had no objections, though she pointedly reminded Lexa that she'd claimed to hate museums not even two days ago. Lexa insisted with determination that history museums didn't count. Clarke just shook her head, smiling with amusement, and follow Lexa onto a bus that took them to the museum.

When they got there and were looking through the exhibits, Clarke definitely did not fail to notice the brunette's fascination with everything she looked at and read through. It definitely didn't surprise her that the girl had majored in history. It became apparent that Lexa had rushed her picture taking specifically to get to see this museum.

Clarke didn't find the whole thing overly interesting, but that was mostly because she didn't really get the context of most of it. She didn't complain, though, because Lexa actually looked really fucking adorable in her exploration of the museum. As she watched Lexa absorb the information, she found herself unable to fight a smile. Lexa was so different from what Clarke was used to – she was spontaneous and curious and, not to mention, stunning. Spending time with her was exhilarating, and it was oftentimes impossible for her to keep her eyes off of the brunette. Clarke wasn't sure exactly at what point her feelings for Lexa had intensified, but they felt stronger than they'd been at any other point in the trip thus far. And they were all she could think about as she followed Lexa through the museum.

They had to leave the museum at five in the afternoon, even though they hadn't been there long, because that was when it closed for the day. Rather than take a bus directly back to Grand Place, they walked in that direction, keeping their eyes out for somewhere to stop for dinner.

They walked with peaceful silence between them along the otherwise busy streets. Clarke wasn't sure at what point they started holding hands, but she couldn't comprehend how normal it felt – holding Lexa's hand in her own had become as typical as breathing in after every exhale.

Clarke was the one to break the silence. "So the first time you came to Europe, did you plan out where you were going ahead of time like now?"

"Somewhat," Lexa answered. "As far as Belgium, I knew I was going to Brussels, but going to Brugge was something I decided while I was here. Speaking of which, you okay to take a train for an hour up to Brugge tomorrow morning?"

"Sure," Clarke agreed. "I'm pretty sure by now I'm an expert train taker."

"Definitely," Lexa said, chuckling. "My first trip to all of these places was actually pretty terrifying. I hadn't really been planning on going alone, but that's how things happened. I'd never really done a lot of things by myself before then."

"I get that feeling," Clarke admitted. "I haven't really been on my own for anything like... ever. My best friend has basically been by my side since we were pretty young, and especially in the past couple of years, I've always had multiple people behind me no matter what I was doing. Then I found myself on a plane flying over an ocean completely by myself... and yeah, it was kinda scary."

"You didn't seem scared when I met you," Lexa admitted.

Clarke just shrugged. "I kinda got over the fear pretty quickly, I guess. But I felt pretty lost, which I guess makes sense."

Lexa hummed in agreement, and then she nodded toward a restaurant across the street. "Wanna eat there?"

They weren't back at the hotel until around eight-thirty in the evening, and though they still had hours to kill if they wanted to, neither of them suggested anything. So Lexa went to take a shower, and Clarke slipped off her shoes and sat on her bed, grabbing her phone out of her bag for the first time since that morning. She pulled up her best friend's contact and took a deep breath as she clicked the call button.

Raven answered the phone after hardly three seconds of it ringing. "Clarke!" she exclaimed happily, "Hey!"

"Hey, Raven," Clarke responded, smiling to herself at Raven's excitement.

"How was your day?"

"It was cool," Clarke replied, "though I'm pretty tired."

"It's not that late, right?" Raven sounded like she might've been worried about keeping the blonde up too late.

"No, it's not. I was looking around the city I'm in," Clarke said, realizing that it was a bit awkward to talk about if she didn't tell her best friend where exactly she was. Did it matter if she did or not?

"Sounds like a better day than I had. This asshole new guy at the firm came to me trying to say that the internet went out in only his little porta-potty sized office. I go to look at his computer and his internet cable's just hanging there, even though I told him yesterday that he had to plug the fucking thing into his computer to get it to work," Raven ranted, and Clarke could practically see the scowl on the girl's face. "Then he had the nerve to tell me that I wasn't doing my job right, and that I should've plugged it in, even though he hadn't brought his new computer in until ten minutes before that! The fuck am I supposed to do about that? He's lucky that I like my job, or I would've started tearing him apart. On the bright side, I got off an hour earlier than expected."

"You were the one who wanted to work as an IT manager at a law firm," Clarke said, smirking.

"I know, and like I said, I like my job. I just hate it when people lack common sense! An intern came to me last week come in and told me that his boss's computer wouldn't turn on and he couldn't figure out why. So I go to look at it, and the computer is on just fine, and the monitor is off. All plugged in and working perfectly fine, literally he just didn't turn on the clearly not lit up power button on the monitor," Raven raged. "Ugh, but enough about that. How's the Old World?"

Clarke rolled her eyes at the term, but smiled anyway. "It's actually awesome. There are so many cool things to draw. I've probably drawn more in the past few days that I had in the past few months before coming here."

"You gotta send me pictures," Raven insisted, as Clarke adjusted her position on her bed so that she was laying on her stomach.

"Sure, I will later."

It was quiet for a moment, and then Raven asked, "So, are you really not going to tell me where you're at? I promise I won't come and find you or some shit – I'm not looking to lose my job, so. And you already know I'm not going to tell your mom. Is there really any harm?"

"I guess not," Clarke gave in, rolling over now on her bed and looking up at the ceiling. "I'm in Brussels, Belgium."

"Wait, like the vegetable?"

"Yes, Raven, like the vegetable."

"Oh, hold up, O just got home and she wants in," Raven said, and suddenly the sound on the other end of the call became a bit fuzzier as it was switched to speaker phone.

"Where are you did you say?" Octavia asked.

"Brussels," Clarke replied, "in Belgium."

"Ooh, did you try their chocolate?"

Clarke blinked. "Actually, no. But I did try the waffles. They're fucking good."

"How long have you been there for?" Raven wondered.

"I got here yesterday. I was in Paris before that."

The gasps on the other end of the call didn't really surprise her, and Raven suddenly exclaimed, "What the fuck? Paris? And you didn't tell us? You better have taken some goddamn pictures, Clarke Griffin! And I swear to god, one day you are taking me on a trip to Paris and you are paying for all of my transportation in return for not even telling me that you were there."

"I took pictures... or at least, some," Clarke promised, sitting up again to grab her messenger bag and pull out her sketchbook. "And I tried to sketch the Notre-Dame. Wasn't that great, though."

"Did you see the Eiffel Tower?" Octavia demanded.

"Climbed it," Clarke replied, flipping through her sketchbook.

"How much cash did you bring with you, Griffin?" Raven demanded. "I swear, you've gotta be broke by now."

Clarke blinked, her hand stilling. She hadn't mentioned Lexa to either of her friends, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to. She knew that if she did, she was bound to receive criticism for traveling with a stranger, or at least be questioned about her relationship with the brunette. And that was a conversation that she did not want to have while Lexa was just behind a single door and would exit through that door in any given minute. "I've got... enough."

"It's official, you've got a secret trust fund from your dad," Raven said, probably rolling her eyes as she said it. "Whatever, just don't come home complaining about your lack of money. Speaking of, I don't know how long Wick is going to hold your job for. So you should probably think about that."

"Yeah, okay," Clarke muttered, not really wanting to think about that. "How have your guys' days been so far?"

"You heard about mine already," Raven said.

"Mine was fine," Octavia replied. "I went to go see my mom, because I had the day off today. She's feeling a lot better, which is good. Apparently I'm losing the 'who can be the best kid' competition, though, because Bellamy has gone to see her every few days apparently."

"I'm glad she's feeling better," Clarke said. Octavia's, and her brother Bellamy's, mom had fallen and busted her ankle a week prior to Clarke leaving.

"She kept asking me today why she hadn't seen you around. She doesn't usually, though, and when I asked her about it, I found out that apparently Bellamy told her that you went off to London," Octavia admitted.

"And I'm assuming you're the one who told Bellamy?"

Octavia huffed. "What was I supposed to do? Tell him that you were sleeping eternally under my floorboards in order to avoid Finn?"

"I don't wanna talk about Finn," Clarke muttered, sliding her sketchbook back into her bag and laying on her stomach across the bed again.

"We got off topic," Raven interrupted quickly. "We were talking about Paris."

The bathroom door opened, and Lexa, clothed in shorts and a tank top with her slightly damp and curly hair falling loosely over and past her shoulders. Clarke tried not to stare at her, because she knew that she'd lose her train of thought. "Yeah, it was nice."

Lexa looked curiously at the blonde on the phone, and Clarke gave her a smile. "Nice? You went to fucking Paris in France and it was just nice?"

"Do you want me to go on for hours about it?" Clarke demanded.

"Yes!" Raven exclaimed. "I don't have anywhere to be. It's Friday night, I'm not working tomorrow. Plus, there's no way I'm going out again. I still can't believe I got drunk on a Wednesday night."

"Yeah, not really your finest moment," Clarke agreed, sitting up on her bed and glancing over at Lexa's, where the brunette had opened her laptop and was moving pictures onto it from her camera. As per usual.

"Hey, don't be mean!" There was a knock from the other end of the line, and Octavia muttered something about food and the phone suddenly went off of speaker phone. As Clarke waited for her friend to speak again, she became aware of Lexa's gaze shifting every now and then over to her. She tried not to blush as she realized. "O had to go get the Chinese she ordered. Lincoln is coming over to hang with her."

"Are they dating yet?" Clarke asked, and upon receiving a negative from her friend, she sighed. "They've been like in love with each other forever."

"Personally, I can't complain about them not dating," Raven admitted. "Considering that them together would probably mean them moving in together. And since we both know that you can't really afford an apartment right now..."

"You could afford one by yourself by now," Clarke insisted, rolling her eyes. "And even if you couldn't, I could split one with you. I'm not broke."

"Uh, you will be by the time you get back. Anyway, enough about that though. Are you doing okay? I know you're enjoying Europe and fucking Paris and Brussels and everything... but are you getting better?" Concern was now lacing the brunette's voice, and Clarke had a feeling that her best friend had gone into her bedroom of the apartment she shared with Octavia.

"Yeah, I am," Clarke promised. "And Finn stopped texting me once you guys stopped bothering him about me, thank goodness. I'm so fucking over him." As Clarke mentioned her ex boyfriend, she felt Lexa's green eyes shift to look over at her, curious, and Clarke shifted her own gaze to meet it. Lexa looked a little surprised at having been caught, and the blonde batted her eyelashes playfully at the other girl, who smirked and shook her head.

"I texted him and told him to stop bothering you," Raven admitted. "I felt bad about talking to him about you. But I was worried at the time, you know?"

"I'm not mad at you, Rae," Clarke promised, "so you can stop worrying about that."

"Obviously, how could you ever be mad at me? I'm awesome," her best friend said, and Clarke laughed.

"You're ridiculous."

"But you love me."

"Yeah, kinda."

"Don't be so harsh, you left me alone on this continent," Raven reminded the blonde.

"You have Octavia."

"Octavia's great, I love Octavia. But you're my best friend Clarke. I've never been away from you for this long before."

Clarke frowned. "I know, Rae."

"But I get why you're gone, so... I won't be the one to give you a hard time about it anymore. And I know you're probably tired, so I'll let you go to bed or whatever," Raven offered. "But you better call me tomorrow. And anytime works, as long as I'm awake."

"Yeah, I will," Clarke agreed. "Bye, Raven."

"Bye, babe."

The phone call ended, and Clarke tossed her phone down, letting out a breath. "That was your best friend?"

"Yeah, Raven," Clarke answered, nodding. "It's really weird that I'm so far away from her. She and I haven't ever been apart for this long before."

"Do you wish you were in DC?"

"Nope," Clarke replied, watching Lexa shamelessly as the girl looked up from her computer and turned her body to face the blonde. "I'm perfectly happy being here right now... with you."

"Do your friends know you're traveling Europe with a mysterious stranger you met a week ago?" Lexa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Clarke smirked, "You're hardly a mysterious stranger, though."

"You did just meet me a week ago, though."

"So?"

Lexa just shrugged. "I can still be pretty mysterious."

"What, can you speak... Flemish, or whatever it was called?"

"No," Lexa answered, smirking, "but I can do other things." Clarke blinked, not sure if she was interpreting the statement correctly. The dark look in Lexa's eyes confirmed what the blonde had assumed that she meant, and her heart rate picked up.

"Oh really?"

"Mmhmm."

Clarke got lost for a moment in Lexa's dark, green gaze, and then cleared her throat, averting her eyes. Getting up off of her bed, she said, "I gotta use the bathroom." She grabbed herself some shorts and a t-shirt. Upon entering the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror and took in a shaky breath. She was absolutely fucked.

After quickly preparing herself for bed, she left the bathroom, but stopped in her tracks when she realized that Lexa was standing now. The brunette looked slightly worried. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

Clarke found herself shaking her head. "No."

Lexa took a tentative step forward, her hands falling on Clarke's waist and causing the blonde's breath to catch in her throat. "Does this make you uncomfortable?"

"Nope," Clarke replied, though her voice was tiny. Lexa's lips were suddenly against her own, gentle and yet not, sucking on her bottom lip with intent. Clarke kissed her back, not hesitating in the slightest, and found herself pressing into the brunette as her arms snaked around the girl's middle. Lexa pushed her tongue through Clarke's lips, and the blonde let out a slight moan as their tongues intertwined.

Lexa took a step forward, forcing Clarke backwards and against the wall of the hotel room. Her thigh pressed directly in between Clarke's, and the blonde whimpered into Lexa's mouth. Her body was ignited, and every touch left on her skin by Lexa's burned like fire. The brunette suddenly separated her mouth from Clarke's and pressed it instead against the blonde's pulse point. Clarke couldn't help the moan that escaped her throat at the feeling.

Their lips reconnected again, and then a sound from Lexa's computer startled them both, causing them to disconnect. Their breaths were shaky and their eyes were dark, and both shared looks of surprise, like they hadn't realized that they'd gotten into this position.

Lexa bit down on her bottom lip, her body still pressed against Clarke's, and looked down at Clarke's before murmuring, "I should probably finish organizing my photos."

"Yeah," Clarke replied, breathy, trying not to focus on the fact that Lexa's thigh was still between hers. "And I, uh, should probably get some sleep."

"Mm." Lexa pulled away from the blonde completely and turned around to move over to her computer. Clarke remained leaning against the wall for a moment, as if she needed it for support, before going to her bed. She wasn't sure how easy sleep would be now, but she knew that if she didn't sleep, she'd have nothing else to do. As she slid under the covers, trying to control her breathing, Lexa said, "Goodnight, Clarke."

Her voice was soft and sweet, and Clarke felt a smile appearing on her face. "Goodnight, Lexa."


	10. Chapter 10

**From Rae Bae – You said you took some pictures, but I see no pictures from you in this message thread. Please fix this! I'm going to bed, hope you have a good day tomorrow. XX**

Clarke smiled as she read the text from her best friend, before quickly sending her the selfie she took with the Eiffel Tower. It was really the only picture she had besides the one that Lexa took of her atop the structure, but she didn't want to send that one to her best friend. The question would come up – who took the picture, and why did Clarke look so goddamn happy in it.

Not that it was a bad thing that Clarke was happy, just that it would probably draw questions.

She knew that her friends would be suspicious if they knew that Clarke was with someone else as she traveled Europe, but she also knew that telling them would end their confusion about the money situation, and also how she'd determined where to go. Raven was right to assume that Clarke was nearly broke by now, but she still had about half of her wad of cash left, because Lexa kept on paying for everything.

Lexa was easily more chivalrous than ninety percent of the guys Clarke had ever dated. Setting her phone down, the blonde glanced over at Lexa's bed, where she was still curled up, completely asleep. Clarke was up pretty early, because she wasn't sure at what time Lexa wanted to leave for Brugge, and she wanted to be ready when Lexa was.

As she showered, she found herself wondering if things were going to be awkward at all between the two of them, about the previous night. She hoped not, because like she'd told Lexa, she definitely hadn't felt uncomfortable about what had happened at all. It had, however, escalated pretty quickly and then ended up going nowhere, which was not only disappointing but possibly a source of awkwardness.

Once she exited the bathroom however, fully dressed and ready for the day, Lexa was already up, gathering up her clothes to take into the bathroom with her. Green eyes looked up to meet blue ones happily. "Good morning."

"Wow, look whose actually awake," Clarke teased, smiling.

"I woke up way earlier than you did yesterday," Lexa reminded the blonde, shaking her head as she passed her to head into the bathroom. "But I wanna have time in Brugge today, so I set an alarm."

"Progressive," Clarke replied, still teasing and amused. Lexa just rolled her eyes, but Clarke was sure that she caught a slight tint of red of the girl's cheeks before she disappeared into the bathroom. Clarke smiled proudly to herself as she began to get her stuff together for the day.

They got waffles again near their hotel before making their way to the train station to board the one that would take them the hour journey up to Brugge. They bought their return tickets for that night as well, and then they found seats on the train and settled into them.

They sat on one side of an aisle and Clarke took the window seat without thinking much of it. However, as soon as the train started moving, it became apparent that Lexa had not at all gotten enough sleep, and she began to doze sitting up. Clarke didn't think anything of it when the brunette suddenly laid her head against her shoulder, curling up somewhat against her, at least as best as she could in the little space.

Clarke let the brunette sleep on her shoulder, because she knew that Lexa had probably been up for a while the previous night. Plus, it wasn't like it was uncomfortable. Clarke watched the landscape pass through the window as the train sped from the capital to the other city. When they arrived, Clarke's breath was immediately taken away. The city was so quaint looking, and though the architecture was similar to that of Brussels, it had a different air to it.

Clarke gently shrugged her left shoulder, trying to nudge the brunette awake before the train actually stopped. "Lexa," she cooed, finding her right hand suddenly some of the girl's hair out of her face, "time to wake up."

"No," Lexa murmured, "you're comfortable."

"I'm sure," Clarke humored, her lips turning up into a smile, "but the train's about to stop."

That got the brunette to sit up, albeit reluctantly, and her eyes looked past Clarke and out at the city as they pulled into the train station. A smile appeared on her face when she realized where they were. "I was really asleep for an hour?"

"Yep," Clarke replied, still smiling. "You slept like a baby."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "I didn't sleep much last night."

"Because you learned the power of alarms," Clarke recalled, smirking as the brunette just scoffed. The train stopped and everyone began to shuffle off of it, Clarke and Lexa included.

The city was something extraordinary. It wasn't considerably small by any means, but something about it was just so peaceful. Once she and Lexa were free of the train and the train station, she understood why. It was so quiet. People walked about, and horse drawn carriage rides for tourists passed, all along cobbled streets. There were stray voices speaking here and there, but it was so quiet. Not the eerie kind of quiet either, not was it at all deafening. It was perfect, relaxing, paradisaical.

She held in a breath, feeling like exhaling and making any noise at all would poison the beauty of it all. But a few people bustled past her, breaking the silence for a moment, and the blonde finally released her breath. "Wow."

"Nice, huh?" Lexa revered. Clarke couldn't even answer, she still felt like speaking too many words would break the quietude. "Come on, I'll show you my favorite place." The brunette's warm hand took Clarke's, and the blonde allowed her to lead her away from the train station. They had to walk a ways away from the train station, and Clarke wasn't sure how long it took exactly, but she was so entranced by their surroundings that she hardly cared.

When they reached their desired destination, Clarke couldn't hold in the words that she hadn't spoken yet. "This place is actually beautiful."

"Isn't it?" Lexa agreed.

They were in a little area behind a few buildings, where a small river or canal or something passed through the landscape, and a beautiful bridge balanced between either side of it. "Why doesn't America have places like this?"

"Because America was founded hundreds of years after this place," Lexa replied, smirking slightly, "and by then, we were already diverting to more modern architecture. Places like this... well, you always have the new modern stuff slipped in, but it wasn't like they were going to tear down everything that was already there. What would be the point in that?"

Clarke nodded. "Well, that makes sense."

"I've gotta take some pictures," Lexa said, releasing Clarke's hand and retrieving her camera from her bag.

Clarke let the brunette do her thing as she sat on a little bench in the area by the waterway. At some point, a group of people came and sat near where she was, either people her age or in their late teens, talking quietly and playing guitar, and it was honestly just serene.

When Lexa was done there, they explored more of the city, including places were things were a bit more busy and lively. Lexa stopped everywhere she needed to take pictures, and Clarke would wander near there. At one point, she slipped into a chocolate store – she was sure that she saw at least two or three on every street – and was actually baffled at how many options of candies and chocolates they had.

She bought some for herself, and some for Lexa, and went to find the brunette. When she did, she was not surprised to see her taking a photo of one of the beautifully structured buildings. "Got time to break for chocolate?" Clarke asked, approaching her with a smile on her face.

Lexa lowered her camera and smiled, noticing the small bags of chocolates that she was holding in either hand. Clarke offered one to the photographer, who took it gratefully. "When is there not time to break for chocolate?" Clarke laughed brightly, drawing a smile from the other girl, and they sat themselves down on a little bench and snacked quietly on their chocolate. Clarke understood what the rage was about Belgian chocolate after tasting only a few – it was absolutely heavenly. "I haven't seen you whip out your sketchbook."

Clarke glanced at the brunette, who was looking at her curiously. "I don't feel like I could do any of this justice."

"I'm sure you could," Lexa countered, but said nothing more once Clarke stayed silent. It was another couple of minutes before she spoke again. "I think it would be so cool to own like a vacation house here. Can you imagine coming here every time you just needed to get away?"

Clarke hummed in response, imagining it. "That would be amazing." As she finished her chocolate and slid the empty plastic pouch into her messenger bag to dispose of later, Lexa suddenly grabbed her hand, playing with the blonde's fingers. Her eyes were also on Clarke's hand, though blue eyes were trained on green ones. "What?"

"I'm glad you're here with me, Clarke," Lexa said softly. Her gaze bounced up to meet Clarke's after the words left her lips, and the breath in Clarke's throat hitched. "Thank you for coming with me. I can't imagine being here alone again."

"Of course," Clarke replied gently, having a feeling that the brunette was reflecting on her past and feeling slightly afraid of messing that up by saying the wrong thing, or asking about it.

She didn't have to ask about it, though, because Lexa offered up information after a beat. "Europe was amazing the first time I came to take pictures. Everything was beautiful, awe inspiring, photo worthy... but I was empty. The only thing that filled me up was the place itself. But now I feel like I'm overflowing, because I also have you." Lexa's face suddenly displayed something like worry, like she thought she may have stepped too far. "I mean... you know, right now, here."

"You have me, Lexa," Clarke promised, calming Lexa. She leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against the brunette's, trying to send the feelings she had toward Lexa through the contact. The way Lexa kissed her back told her that they were well received.

After another hour or so of picture taking, they stopped for a late lunch, despite their chocolate snack earlier. They found a nice little restaurant near the center of the city where they could sit outside in the peaceful street. It was a little difficult to order food there, since the waitress only spoke Dutch, and neither Clarke nor Lexa could understand any of it. Thankfully, pointing and nodding seemed to be pretty universal symbols of communication.

They didn't talk much while they ate, Clarke because she felt like she should preserve the quietness, but she wondered if Lexa was still thinking a lot about her past. When she received a happy smile from the brunette by the time they were leaving, though, she assumed that the solemn period had passed.

Lexa was done taking pictures by five in the evening, with the air was getting a bit cooler. Since they'd had lunch late, neither of them were particularly hungry, so they made their way back to the train station with their hands intertwined and a light conversation being held between them.

During the train ride, Clarke gave Lexa the window seat and the brunette fell asleep the glass. Clarke fell asleep again Lexa. They both woke up only from the slight jolt of the train stopping when they were back in Brussels.

It was seven in the evening as they hopped on a bus to bring them nearer to their hotel. As they were on said bus, Clarke got a call from Raven. It didn't last long, because the brunette had initiated the phone call in order to let Clarke know that she was going to be busy for most of the rest of the day and to not bother calling. The blonde didn't question it, because she was still waking up from her nap on the train.

When they got back to the hotel room, Clarke used the bathroom first since she would take less time, and after finishing, Lexa went in to take her shower.

As Clarke sat down on her bed, she realized that she needed to text Octavia so that her friend wouldn't get pissed at her. She searched her pockets for her phone and realized that she'd left it in the bathroom. She could hear the shower running, and swallowing thickly, she approached the bathroom door.

Knocking, she called, "Lexa?"

"Yeah?" Lexa called back through the loud sound of water hitting the floor of the shower.

"I left my phone on the counter in the bathroom..."

"Door's unlocked," Lexa called, and Clarke swallowed thickly as she gently turned the handle on the door and stepped into the bathroom. The curtain was drawn in front of the shower, of course, but as she faced the counter to search for her phone, her eyes were drawn up to the mirror. In the reflection, she could see, from a sliver of shower that the curtain wasn't covering, the back of Lexa's hair as she scrubbed shampoo through it, and the muscles in her back flex slightly as she did so.

Blue eyes widening, Clarke quickly grabbed her phone, squeaked out a thank you, and left the bathroom. She let out a long breath, shaking her head and moving back to her bed.

 **To Crazy O's – Hey, heard Raven is busy and I'm really tired, so I'll call tomorrow. Wanted to text you though before I hit the sack.**

 **From Crazy O's – No problem. Yeah, Raven got called into a tech emergency at work. Ur best friend scares the shit outa me sometimes. She started ranting and practically screaming about how stupid people were – and trying to figure out y they were even at the firm on the weekend.**

 **To Crazy O's – Aw, c'mon. Raven isn't scary.**

 **From Crazy O's – That's what she said before she called me an Octapussy. Apparently that nickname is now a thing.**

Clarke felt a smile come to her face, and she mischievously clicked a few buttons on her phone.

 **To Octapussy – LOL. Well good luck with that. Talk to you tomorrow, O.**

 **From Octapussy – Gn, C.**

Plugging her phone in and setting it on the nightstand, Clarke exhaled and suddenly heard the water stop running in the bathroom. She swallowed thickly, picturing Lexa's bare back again, and the bare legs she'd seen on a handful of occasions, and that hair. She thought back to the previous night, and quickly realized that at this point, she would be unable to keep away from Lexa once the girl emerged from the bathroom.

And when Lexa did come out of the bathroom, wearing booty shorts and a tight tank top, Clarke was unable to stop herself from standing up, facing the brunette. Lexa froze, her eyes immediately locking with Clarke's. The blonde knew that Lexa could read her gaze, because when she was stepping forward and pressing her lips firmly against Lexa's, the other girl easily accepted her embrace.

She kissed her back with even more intensity, the kind of intensity that Clarke felt every time she looked at Lexa's fierce eyes. Soft hands trailed the sides of Clarke's body, over her shirt, and stopped at the hem of it. Both of them knew what they wanted, and what the other wanted, and whatever fear had stopped them the night before was gone. Lexa gripped the bottom of the blonde's shirt, and all but tore the piece of clothing from her body.

Clarke wasn't in the habit of sleeping with a bra on, so she was immediately exposed, though Lexa only had a second to even notice before Clarke was pulling their lips back together. Despite the dominance she was attempting, Lexa was soon in control of the kiss and of their movements, pushing the blonde backwards and toward her bed. Clarke felt the back of her knees touch the end of her mattress, and she was suddenly being pressed down into the soft surface, Lexa propped up by one arm above her.

She let the brunette straddle her possessively – she relished in the feeling of Lexa topping her like it was her job – but she desperately wanted the brunette to be as exposed as she was. She hummed into Lexa's mouth, her hands sliding up and under her tank top. Lexa got the message and detached their mouths, tearing her own shirt off and then lowering her lips to Clarke's neck.

Clarke moaned as teeth scraped against her pulse point, and then lips and a determined tongue began to suck on the skin along her collarbone. Clarke's hands occupied themselves on Lexa's hips, the skin there exposed and incredibly soft. She had no idea how a girl could be so perfectly soft and touchable. Lexa was incredible, there was no doubt about that.

It was when Lexa lowered her lips onto Clarke's chest that the blonde began to squirm. When Lexa's tongue flicked out against her nipples, and the hand that wasn't holding her up tickled its fingers along her exposed skin. Clarke's body had never reacted so easily to anyone's touch, and when she became aware of Lexa's mouth leaving a mark on her body just below her right breast, she let out a throaty moan.

She felt Lexa shiver at hearing the sound, and the beautiful brunette moved even further down Clarke's body. Now, though, Lexa was not on top of her, but rather was crouched on the ground at the end of the bed, her face level with Clarke's legs. Her green eyes were darker than ever, filled with passion and lust and want. "Can I?" she husked out, glancing between Clarke's covered center and her face.

"Yes," Clarke gasped, pleased when Lexa finally gripped the shorts she was wearing and dragged them off of her body. Clarke was aware that her underwear was already wet, but Lexa didn't comment on it at all. Instead, she carefully removed the unnecessary covering and tossed it aside. Clarke gulped as she pushed pale legs apart. Cool air met the blonde's center and she shivered. Lexa teased her with a kisses along the inside of her thigh, and Clarke heard herself whimper. "Lexa," she pleaded.

Lexa obliged to the unspoken request, and her lips met the area in between Clarke's legs. The blonde was instantly relieved to feel the needed friction, but it was not enough by any means. Lexa's tongue moved too slowly, and Clarke only became more and more worked up as her hips tried to rock against the brunette's mouth to gain more. Lexa kept her hands firmly on either of Clarke's thighs, though, keeping the lower half of her body mostly still.

Clarke knew that she was going to need more to get anywhere, and she was sure that Lexa knew that and was just drawing out the ordeal. Clarke wouldn't have minded if her body wasn't already so worked up. When Lexa released one of Clarke's thighs to enter her fingers into her, she was well on her way to reaching full release.

She became a mess of moans and gasps and she was sure that Lexa's name escaped her lips more than once. When she finally came, she relaxed onto the mattress, which was now damp with her sweat. Her breathing was heavy and uneven as Lexa gently pulled out from her. Clarke caught the girl slipping her fingers into her mouth, and felt like she might come again just by seeing it. Lexa carefully stood up and got back onto the bed, straddling Clarke again and looking down at her exposed body with admiration.

"You're beautiful," she whispered, her fingers extending and dragging down the middle of Clarke's torso, causing the blonde to shiver.

"Thank you," Clarke murmured shyly, now that her breathing had calmed enough for her to speak properly. Her cheeks were warm, and her eyes were dark, and she was trying to figure out the best way to get Lexa under her.

"What are you thinking?" Lexa wondered, clearly able to tell that Clarke's mind was searching for something.

"I'm thinking about pinning you against this bed and fucking you senseless," Clarke breathed out in response, and the brunette's face flushed a dark red, though her eyes became ever darker.

"So why don't you do that then?" Lexa's voice was labored, and Clarke realized without much surprise that the girl was clearly already aroused.

"I think I will."


	11. Chapter 11

The first thing Clarke noticed as she forced her eyes opened was that arms were wrapped around her midsection and her back was pressed against Lexa's bare front. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized it, and an involuntary smile appeared on her face. The even breathing from behind her indicated that Lexa was still asleep soundly.

The window at the end of the room wasn't flooding it with light, so Clarke assumed that it wasn't too late in the day yet. She wasn't sure where they were going next, though she was pretty sure that they were checking out of the hotel at some point during the morning. She decided not to worry about it yet, and let her eyes flicker closed again as she relaxed her body into Lexa's.

She woke again later to a ray of bright light shining directly into her face, and she immediately let out a small groan and brought a hand up to cover her face. Lexa stirred behind her. She pulled her arm out from around Clarke, allowing the blonde to turn over and face away from the light. "Morning," Clarke murmured to the brunette, who was looking at her with bright eyes.

"Morning," Lexa replied.

"Where are we going?" Clarke asked, bringing a hand up to wipe at her tired eyes.

"Amsterdam," Lexa answered softly. "We have a train at one. Gotta check out before noon."

Groaning, Clarke propped herself up and turned slightly to reach for the nightstand, pulling her phone apart from her charger. She relaxed back into the bed, still facing Lexa, and unlocked her phone. "Well, it's nine. And I wanna get food before we get on the train."

"So we should probably get up."

"Yeah."

Neither of them moved, and Clarke rolled her eyes, smiling fondly at the naked girl laying in front of her. The blankets that were covering them were a bit twisted and tangled, so most of their bodies were pretty exposed despite them.

After another beat, Clarke finally began to pull herself up out of her bed. "No, stay in bed," Lexa whined. "We can go to Amsterdam later."

"No," Clarke argued, rolling her eyes. She stood up and faced the bed, where Lexa's gaze was having trouble staying on the blonde's face. Clarke smirked, no longer shy about her body. Lexa had already seen it, after all. "I need to shower, and I'm pretty sure you do, too, because I don't think yours last night ended up keeping you very clean."

Lexa's cheeks were flushed a bit red. "We could shower together..."

"You planning on getting out of bed in the next thirty seconds?" Clarke asked, moving to her suitcase to grab fresh clothes. This was her last pair of fresh clothes, so she hoped that there was an easy access washer and dryer where ever they were staying in Amsterdam.

"No."

"Then you are showering alone, after me," Clarke said, smirking at the brunette before disappearing into the bathroom.

They were both cleaned off, dressed, and with everything packed for their train ride into the Netherlands by eleven. They checked out of their hotel and walked to the bus station that would then bring them to the train station. Before getting on a bus, though, they stopped at the easiest to access restaurant for a quick breakfast. Their meal took slightly longer than expected and they ended up rushing off of the bus to make their train in time.

Lexa had purchased the tickets without Clarke's knowledge, and when they were seated across from one another in the train, settling in for the two hour ride, Clarke asked, "Did you already book a hotel?" The brunette hesitated for a moment, and then she started speaking.

"Well, the past two hotels we were staying in, I'd already booked a room. I just upgraded it to two beds. So... I tried to do the same in Amsterdam, but they wouldn't let me upgrade so... I have a room, but just one bed."

"Works for me if it works for you," Clarke said, biting the inside of her lip and wondering if Lexa noticed. Whether not she did, Lexa smiled knowingly and nodded.

"Okay."

During the first part of the train ride, neither of them talked much. Lexa had to finish organizing her pictures from Brugge, since she'd been otherwise occupied the previous night to do so. In the mean time, Clarke set out to sketch something she could recall from the latest city they'd been in. However, she quickly became bored and flipped the page to start something new.

She glanced up at the brunette, staring with focus at her computer and she did whatever it was she was doing. Clarke found herself sketching those slightly furrowed eyebrows, the focused expression that was actually pretty cute. It was just a rough sketch – Lexa's face was pretty much just floating in the middle of the page, but it was a nice thing to occupy her time.

Halfway through the trip, Lexa closed her laptop and her expression smoothed out. "All done," she announced, as if she could tell that Clarke had seemed pretty bored throughout the past hour. Clarke's pencil stilled, having lost the reference she'd been using.

"How come it takes so long to organize them all, or whatever?"

Lexa shrugged. "I have to put them all in their respective folders, and name them all to match the name of the original photo, from five years ago. It's kinda a long process, but it saves me from having to do it all the night before I'm supposed to send them all to get printed."

"Makes sense," Clarke commented, propping her chin up on the palm of her hand. "So... Amsterdam is in The Netherlands, where they speak Dutch, right?"

Lexa smiled, amused. "Yes."

"Okay, so I know something going in this time," the blonde said, smiling proudly. The brunette laughed at the expression Clarke wore.

"Good job," she teased.

They talked a little about Amsterdam through the rest of the ride, but then they switched to talking about how Lexa had gotten into photography. That was what filled up the rest of their ride, and then they were suddenly pulling into a train station. It seemed to be near the sea, and Clarke's eyes curiously looked out the window. When the train pulled to a stop, she followed Lexa out of it and into the station.

"So, we're gonna have to take another bus. We can get one almost right to our hotel, and check in, and then I wanna show you something," Lexa said brightly.

"You always have something you wanna show me," Clarke commented, though she didn't object by any means as she followed the brunette to the bus stop near the train station.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "There are so many things I could show you, I just have to pick one to start off with," Lexa claimed. "Plus, I have to pick the best for when I'm not taking pictures."

"How many days are we spending here?" Clarke wondered. The bus was already approaching the stop, which was nice. Lexa began answering as they clambered up into the automobile, squeezing their bags in with them.

"A couple," Lexa replied. "At least today and tomorrow, but we might not have to stay another day after that."

"How many more places are you going?"

Lexa flashed Clarke a mysterious grin and she said, "Where's the fun in telling you that?" The blonde chuckled, and she actually had to agree with her companion. Knowing how many places, and then being able to estimate how many days, would probably be more depressing than interesting. She'd rather be surprised every time. It felt nice to not have control of the planning, actually. On the other hand, she was pretty sure that Lexa enjoyed being in control of it. It worked out pretty perfectly.

The hotel they were staying in seemed pretty big and pretty crowded, probably since it was just past the beginning of check in time – which was displayed on the front desk in Dutch and English to be at three in the afternoon. It was just nearing four when Clarke and Lexa got their room keys and started up to their room.

The room was about the same size as every room they'd stayed, but with one bed centered in it rather than two. It was a king sized bed, though, there was no doubt, with nice looking sheets and a soft green blanket draped across the end of it. Clarke could already imagine curling up in it with Lexa. She knew that she definitely had no problem sharing a bed with the brunette.

Despite how comfy it looked, Lexa quickly rushed her back out of the room after dropping off their luggage and gathering up their smaller bags. They made their way back down to the lobby of the hotel and then out into the fresh air. It was slightly overcast, and so they had both made sure to have their coats with them, but it was not dreary or depressing at all. Rather, it made Clarke pull her coat around her a bit tighter and feel comfy and just... good.

"So where are we walking to?" Clarke asked, taking a few quicker steps to catch up with the brunette, who had gotten a bit ahead of her. Her hair billowed up behind her a bit as she did.

"You'll see," Lexa replied, getting an eye roll from the blonde. Clarke hardly cared if the girl told her though, she would see, and she didn't mind walking alongside Lexa. She pointedly took Lexa's soft hand, and felt the other woman squeeze it in response. They walked silently through the cool air with their hands intertwined, comfortable and at ease.

It was less than ten minutes later that they reached their destination, and Clarke immediately knew that she'd seen it in photographs before. "Oh," she said, nodding in recognize. It was the red and white I Amsterdam sign. Not many people were crowded around it, surprisingly, but that was possibly because it looked like it might start drizzling. "I've seen this before, in pictures."

"It's pretty cool," Lexa commented. "I think it's pretty cool that it's like... the city's motto or whatever."

They were facing the back of the sign, and in front of the path in the front part of it was a long pond sort of thing. It was a pretty area, even in the overcast weather. They made their way around the sign so that they could face the front, and Lexa hummed thoughtfully.

"I think I'll take my pictures of it now. No one's really around, and the weather isn't really a big deal." It sounded like she was mostly talking to herself, and Clarke let her start doing her thing. She looked around at her surroundings appreciatively. What she'd seen of the city so far just seemed sort of... friendly, she supposed. People were biking around, looking happy. It didn't seem like the cities that Clarke was more used to seeing in the US. Not that she expected it to be anything like those.

She began to get bored while Lexa was taking pictures, though, and so she sneaked around behind the sign and poked her head through the first "a", smiling widely. Lexa snapped the picture she'd been setting up before realizing, and she let out a laugh. "Clarke, I'm trying to take pictures."

"You're taking too long," Clarke whined playfully, now standing next to the "a" instead. Lexa took another picture of her.

"Fine, but I'm not deleting these pictures," Lexa stated, smiling slyly.

"Okay," Clarke agreed, "but at least take one on my phone so that I can have one."

She hopped away from the sign and handed Lexa her phone before taking her bag off of her body and tossing it aside. She went back behind the a, sticking her head through it and smiling. Lexa took a picture of her with her iPhone, and then switched back to her camera, snapping multiple as Clarke was moving back around the sign.

"What are you possibly going to do with so many pictures of my face?" Clarke joked, grabbing her messenger bag and pulling it back over her shoulder. She retrieved her phone from the brunette, who just shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered. "It would be a shame to delete them, though. You're so cute."

"I'm not cute," Clarke argued.

"Uh huh, whatever you say," Lexa replied, rolling her eyes.

Clarke opened up the picture that Lexa had taken on her phone, and was only slightly surprised at how good it was. Seriously, no matter how hard she tried to focus a forward facing picture, she could never do it. Selfies, though... "Well, oh professional photographer, you take selfies? Or is that too lowly of a photograph for you."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "I don't really take pictures with my phone, so no, I don't usually take selfies." Shaking her head, Clarke grabbed the brunette's hand and adjusted her position so that they were both facing the water – the sign behind them. She flipped to her camera on her phone and switched the camera to face them. She positioned it strategically to make both her and Lexa look correctly in proportion, and as they both smiled into the camera, snapped the selfie. When she looked back at it, she was proud of her abilities.

"Does the professional approve of my selfie taking skills?"

Lexa laughed, nearly snorting and causing Clarke to grin. "It's a very nice picture. I'd give it a three out of five."

"Shut up," Clarke said, laughing lightly.

Lexa grinned widely. "Feel like a drink?"

"Isn't it a little early for drinking?" the blonde responded, raising an eyebrow as Lexa grabbed her hand and started pulling her down one of the paths.

"It's like a fifteen minute walk," Lexa replied. "Will it be too early then?"

Clarke smirked, rolling her eyes. "Why not?"

The bar that Lexa brought her too was small and cozy and had a pretty good assortment of drinks. They both ordered a sandwich with their first drink, since it was probably best that they didn't drink after not eating for a little while. They talked lightheartedly as they sipped from their glasses. Clarke had ordered a cocktail, though as she sipped she couldn't help but think that she could've made it better. It was probably the worst habit she had when she went out anywhere to get a drink – she could always pick out the smallest mistakes. The drinks there were definitely pretty good, though. Lexa, however, had a glass of wine. Clarke wasn't really surprised, though.

At some point, her phone vibrated in her coat pocket, and she grabbed it to see a text from her best friend.

 **From Rae Bae – How's the Brussels Sprout city?**

Clarke rolled her eyes at the message, though a smile tugged at her lips. Lexa wondered, "Is that Raven?"

"Mmhmm," Clarke answered, typing out a response.

 **To Rae Bae – Not there anymore.**

As she clicked out of her messages app, she curiously tapped her photo app and looked at the two newest pictures she had. The one of her and the Lexa, and the one of her by the I Amsterdam sign. "I wonder how they'd all react if I posted these pictures on my Facebook," Clarke mused, smirking. "I've been avoiding that site like the plague. If my mom saw me online on there, she'd never stop messaging me. And the noise that the Facebook messaging app makes is so annoying."

Lexa laughed. "I really only have my Facebook because of my family," the brunette admitted. "None of my friends care enough to use it."

"My friends are big Instagram users," Clarke said, smirking. Experimentally tapping on her Facebook app. She was greeted with an influx of new notifications, from the past week or so that she hadn't been on it at all. Most of them were tags in the comment sections of posts that her friends thought she might like. "Ugh, my Facebook is trashed by now. This is what happens when you don't check notifications for a week."

"You're the one who did that," Lexa reminded her teasingly, taking a sip of her wine.

"Yeah..." Clarke shrugged, looking at the little box at the top of the page that was prompting her to update her status. After looking at it for a moment, she just about clicked away until a little tiny instinct inside of her told her that it was time to come out of hiding. She was comfortable in her journey right now, with Lexa, and she wasn't going to be easily persuaded to come back. That's why she'd avoided her mother, anyway, because she knew that the woman would try her hardest to coax Clarke back to DC.

Her best friends knew where she was by this point... what was the harm, really? Lexa seemed to be reading into her thoughts. "Are you really going to post them?"

Clarke shrugged. "Why not? I was avoiding them all, but I already know that I'm not going back until... I guess until you go back to New York. As long as you don't ditch me somewhere first." Lexa laughed incredulously, and the blonde smiled, continuing, "So it doesn't really matter who knows where I am. I have a reason to be here now, or at least more so than I did before. And it's probably easier to just post this than to text everyone and endure all of their rage separately. Plus, at least this picture will tell them where I am."

"Go for it," Lexa said, shrugging. "But if anyone comes here trying to drag you back to DC, I might actually fight them."

Clarke blushed. "Oh yeah?"

"You're kind of good company," Lexa replied, eliciting a smile from the blonde.

"Just kind of? Coming from the girl who literally asked me to come travel Europe with her after knowing me for two days?"

Lexa gave an exaggerated eye roll. "You can't pull that card every time."

"Sure I can," Clarke insisted, sipping her cocktail and fighting a grin. She glanced back down at her phone and clicked the photo button by the status update box. She selected the two pictures, and hit post without typing in a status or caption, and immediately held her breath and slipped her phone into her messenger bag, where she wouldn't hear it go off.

She tried not to think about it as she fell back into a nice conversation with Lexa. When they had decided that they shouldn't have anymore drinks, they left the bar and started on their walk back to the hotel. It wasn't too late, but like most days, they were already pretty tired. Not to mention a little more intoxicated than tipsy.

They didn't rush back to the hotel, so it took them a little while before they were back, and they also stopped briefly by the little pond next to the I Amsterdam sign, sitting along the edge of it and talking. Talking to Lexa was almost a billion times more entertaining and also just easier than talking to other people – both sober Clarke and tipsy Clarke could agree with that.

It was nearing six-thirty when they got back to the hotel, and Clarke slid her shoes off of her feet and claimed the left side of the bed, while Lexa went to go see if she could find out about a washer and dryer in the hotel. Clarke would have gone with her, but she knew that she would've made it more difficult. It was hard enough when one person was trying to converse with people who would rather be speaking in Dutch.

Clarke tossed her messenger bag onto the ground, and it flapped open a bit, revealing a bright light on the inside. Clarke reached back down and retrieved her phone, suddenly recalling the pictures she's posted.

She had multiple text messages, along with many Facebook comments. She checked Facebook first.

 **Harper Johnson:**

 **Amsterdam? That's so cool. Where have you been, girl?**

 **Monty Green:**

 **Did you go off the grid to go to Europe and hook up with some random girl? XD JK, but where have you been, Clarke? We miss you :(**

 **Jasper Jordan:**

 **What he said!**

 **Octavia Blake:**

 **WHO THE FUCK IS THE GIRL IN THAT PICTURE? RAVEN GET ON THIS DAMN SOCIAL MEDIA SITE!**

 **Raven Reyes:**

 **WTF! CLARKE!**

 **Harper Johnson:**

 **I didn't even realize there was a second picture. ;-; But yes, whoooooo?**

 **Abby Griffin:**

 **Clarke. Jane. Griffin. You post on Facebook before you even call your mom?**

She was surprised at how few comments there were compared to text messages. She had about ten from her mom, and thirty from Octavia and Raven combined. Then there was one was from Bellamy, and, due to what she assumed was karma, one from Finn.

She started from her mom, ignoring all of the messages and hitting the call button next to her contact.

The call was answered instantly. "Clarke Griffin! You are in Amsterdam?"

"Yes?"

"Why haven't you called me, or even texted me? I can't believe you! You've been off having fun and wasting away the time you should be using to get a new job and a new apartment! And you've left me here in a panic!" Abby exclaimed, sounding definitely very pissed off.

"You have to understand, mom," Clarke breathed out, feeling like she had sobered a little bit just from the situation, but aware that alcohol was clouding her thoughts a little bit, "I had to get away. And I couldn't talk to you. You would try to get me to come home, and I would've listened to you. But I can't. And I won't, not for probably another week or so. And I still have my job. Raven's got Wick keeping it for me right now, and I'm going to call him soon and work something out with him. Apartment won't be a problem. I'll crash with Rae and O for a couple more weeks when I'm back. They won't mind."

Her mom let out a huff. "I'm at work right now, Clarke, but if I weren't, you would be in for a much longer conversation. Count your lucky stars. I have to go."

"Bye, mom," Clarke said, glancing down at her right hand, which was playing with the hem of her coat nervously. "I love you."

She heard a surprisingly calm breath from the other side of the line. "I love you too." The call ended, and Clarke moved on to the next most important person. Raven.

 **From Rae Bae – Who's the girl?**

 **From Rae Bae – Obviously not a temporary hookup, because you took a goddamn selfie with her.**

 **From Rae Bae – And you two look awfully smiley and cutesy.**

 **From Rae Bae – You better fucking call me if you want to keep your life.**

There were countless more messages basically reiterating those same statements, and so Clarke didn't bother to read them all and instead clicked the call button on her phone. It was Sunday, so she knew that neither of her best friends were working. This was confirmed when Raven answered the phone call after not even a full ring. "Start talking, blondie."

Clarke let out a sigh. "Her name is Lexa."

"Okay?"

"I met her in London."

"What? You met her in fucking London? Wait a second, she was that girl you mentioned in that video you made when you were in London? The one who took you to the London Eye and shit?" Raven demanded.

"Yeah, that's her," Clarke confirmed. "She's in Europe taking photographs for an art exhibit thing. She's from New York."

"Clarke! She's a fucking stranger who you met randomly barely a week ago!" Raven exclaimed. "What, did she just offer to take you with her?"

"Basically?" Clarke replied, raising her eyebrows.

Raven huffed. "Have you been drinking at all?"

"A little? How'd you know."

"You answer lots of questions with questions as answers, like you think the answers should be obvious," Raven replied, sighing. "Is she with you right now?"

"Not right now," Clarke replied, glancing over to the entrance to the hotel room. "She's... looking to see if the hotel we're at has a washer and dryer we can use. We're both kind of out of fresh clothes to wear..."

"You're staying in the same hotel room."

"Yeah?"

"So... she's paying for it? That's what I'm assuming, since according to your mom, you haven't spent a single dime with your credit card, and you haven't come running back to DC begging for more money yet," Raven assumed.

Clarke sighed. "I tried to pay for some, but she was very adamant about paying. I don't think she has an issue with the money."

"Why would she pay for all your shit though?"

"Well... she doesn't want me to go back to DC either," Clarke said, rolling her eyes.

"Because she's probably secretly a serial killer or something, Clarke! Look, babe, I know you're going through some shit. But you can't just start trusting a random stranger you meet who invites you to travel Europe with them," Raven insisted.

The blonde lowered her gaze to where her fingers were still fiddling with the hem of her coat. She wasn't quite sure why she hadn't taken it off yet. "You don't know her, Rae. Okay? She's not a serial killer. She's sweet and she cares and she needs someone with her here as much as I do. Trust me."

The door of the hotel suddenly opened, and Lexa walked in. "I found the washer. You can have the first load, if you want," she started, before realizing that Clarke was on the phone and clamping her mouth shut. Clarke figured that her stressed out expression was pretty obvious.

"Was that her?" Raven asked.

"Yeah," Clarke muttered, sighing. "One sec." She got up from the bed and grabbed her messenger bag, emptying it and then stuffing the clothes that she needed to wash into it for easier transport. It was stuffed pretty full.

She looked to Lexa, who looked like she had a good assumption of what Clarke and Raven were talking about. The brunette gave her quick instructions on how to get to the washer, saying that she'd paid for using it at the front desk already.

When Clarke was in the hallway following Lexa's directions, she went back to her conversation with Raven. "Look, Rae, I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do, babe, but I'm worried about you. I don't want something bad to happen to you, Clarke. You're my best friend," Raven said, her voice quiet all of the sudden.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," Clarke promised, finding herself walking into a laundry room with a few washers and driers set up. She popped one of the former appliances open and began dumping her clothes into it. "And I trust Lexa. I've already been staying with her for a week now. If I didn't trust her, I'd have gone home by now."

Raven sighed. "Okay... I guess I can approve. She's hot." Clarke smirked.

"Yeah, she is," the blonde agreed. The brunette gasped on the other end of the line.

"Have you two already slept together?"

"Oh – gotta go, Rae! Talk to you tomorrow!"

"Clarke, hey –"

The blonde hung up the phone, smirking slightly. She started the washer after dumping some of the available detergent into it, and then hoisted herself up on top of it as it worked. She glanced back down at her phone. Only a few more people to go.

All of the texts from Octavia were in freak out mode, much like Raven's, but they also said that Octavia would call her when she was done helping her mom with moving some furniture in her house. Clarke couldn't help but feel a bit lucky that she had caught Octavia at a bad time. Her lecture would be way harder to fend off than Raven's.

She checked her other two messages.

 **From Bellamy – Hey, u look happy in the pics u posted on fb. I'm glad. I know O is gonna freak out at u. Just remember, if u r safe and u r happy, u r doing it right. Obviously u need to return to responsibility and everything at some point, but let urself time to heal and stuff.**

She smiled, because the text was such a Bellamy thing to do. Whenever he knew that Octavia was going to get pissed about something, he never hesitated to remind Clarke that she didn't have to succumb to his sister's wrath, even though the blonde knew that by now.

The last text was the one she was looking forward to reading the least.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – Wow, you post on Facebook before you answer me. And of course you had to make a big spectacle with that random chick. Message loud and clear, C.**

Clarke felt her eyebrows furrowing, and despite not wanting to at all, she found herself typing back angrily.

 **To Soul-Crushing-Ex – You shut the fuck up Finn, and lose my fucking number. I didn't answer you, because you're a pretentious ass who has about as much right to know what's going on in my life as some any random stranger on the street. And this "random chick" has treated me better in a week than you ever could've in your entire fucking life. So fuck off before I sick Raven on you.**

Dropping her phone in her lap and letting her eyes flicker closed, she leaned against the wall behind the washing machine, which was humming peacefully under her as it sloshed around the clothes inside. She took in a deep breath, blocking out all of the drama and focusing instead on where she was, who was with her, waiting just back in the hotel room for her. She pictured the previous night in the hotel room in Brussels, and early that morning.

And it was all okay.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you okay?" were the first words that came out of Lexa's mouth when Clarke came back an hour and a half later with her clean laundry. She knew that she could've come back during and gone back to get her clothes after, but she just needed some time to be alone. At the very least, it gave her time to sober up a little bit.

The instant she was back, though, she wished she'd come back earlier. She tossed her messenger bag onto the floor next to her half empty suitcase and then collapsed onto the bed, next to where Lexa was. She'd been doing something on her phone as Clarke had walked in, but the phone was abandoned now as green eyes carefully watched the blonde. "I'm okay," she replied, sighing. "In for a long night, though. My mom is probably going to call me later, same with Octavia."

"If you go to sleep, then you have a legit excuse to not answer," Lexa offered, giving the blonde a soft smile.

Clarke shook her head, though she appreciated the suggestion. "I can't keep avoiding everyone. I can be here, and having an amazing time with you... but I can't leave them out of the loop anymore. It's not fair to them. Especially not O and my mom. Raven's not so mad, she gets me more than anyone else, so. My friend Bellamy messaged me, though, and he gets it. My ex boyfriend, however... He's a little pissed."

"Didn't he dump you?" Lexa asked, scowling slightly.

"Yes. Exactly why I told him to fuck off," Clarke replied, lifting her eyebrows a little bit and then relaxing into the comfortable bed. Though she was sitting up against the headboard, it was still pretty comfy. "What have you been doing?"

Lexa shrugged. "Nothing really. Texting my best friend in New York."

"You never talk about them. Your friends."

"Me and my friends are close, but not like you and your friends are," Lexa replied. "When my best friend Anya and I are both in New York, we hangout a lot. But once one of us is out of state, we don't really talk a whole lot unless it's important. It's just not what we're used to doing I guess."

"Everyone's different," Clarke offered as reasoning, before hesitating to say anything else. She opted to, though. "You don't really talk about your family or anything."

"My life is boring," Lexa claimed, turning a little bit and propping herself up on her arm rather than leaning fully against the headboard. "Yours is much more exciting."

"I wish mine was less exciting sometimes."

Shaking her head, the brunette said, "My parents are average. They both work at the head of a bank in New York. They make too much money for their own good, and to them, that justifies the lack of unity in our family. Not that I really care. It's not like they were ever completely absent."

"They have lots of money?" Clarke asked, unable to stop the question from escaping. She wasn't without curiosity – she'd obviously wondered where Lexa's money came from.

Lexa nodded, but then she clarified, "It's theirs, though, not mine." Clarke blinked, nodding and keeping her mouth closed to keep from asking a stupid question. Lexa knew that she'd been thinking it, though, so she smiled lightly and said, "My dad's entire career was based off of his parents – who paid for every little thing he ever needed. I adamantly refused anything like that from any of my family members, and though they all thought it was pretty weird, they let me be. I got a nearly full ride to college at New York University, so money wasn't the biggest issue for me. And then, near my graduation, my grandparents both died in a car accident. I'm their only grandchild, and they'd already given so much money to my parents that they left all of it to me. Let's just say, it's enough that I could live nicely for a few years without working. But I want to work, so most of it is sitting in a savings account to grow."

Clarke was surprised – not by the money situation, but by Lexa suddenly baring her past to the blonde. She'd gotten kind of used to not knowing much about her, and even though she'd inquired, she hadn't thought that Lexa would let it all out. She appreciated it, though, beyond measure. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry about your grandparents." It was the only thing she could think to say. She knew what it was like to lose someone to a car accident.

"Thanks," Lexa said, smiling softly. "I didn't know them very well. But despite what their money might make people think, they were actually really nice people. It's sad, but I don't really think about it very much." Clarke nodded, not sure what she should say at this point.

"Thanks for telling me all that," she finally said, finding a smile on her face as she looked into deep, green eyes.

Lexa glanced between her eyes and then down at her lips, and suddenly she was leaning forward and pressing their lips together softly. Clarke didn't hesitate to press her lips more firmly against Lexa's, and the brunette shifted and was suddenly sitting across Clarke's lap. The blonde sighed happily into the kiss, and Lexa slid her tongue in between her lips tentatively.

Suddenly, Clarke's phone, which was shoved in the pocket of her jeans since she'd finally shrugged her coat off while she was in the laundry room., suddenly went off loudly, indicating a phone call. Lexa pulled her lips off of Clarke's, and the blonde groaned, grabbing her phone to glance at it while Lexa still sat on her lap.

"It's Octavia."

Lexa leaned back a bit. "I should probably go do my laundry. I'll give you two... space." Clarke nodded, and Lexa suddenly hopped off of her and the bed and grabbed a wad of clothes, heading out of the room.

Sighing, Clarke hit answer on the phone and held it to her ear. "Hey."

"So, explain."

"What, you're not going to yell at me?"

"Explain first, and then I'll see."

Clarke bit down on her tongue, and then gave in and began talking. "Her name is Lexa. I met her in London. She's from New York, she flew into London the same night as I did and she's in Europe to take pictures for an art exhibit she's commissioned for. She offered to take me to Paris with her, and I've just been going where she goes since then," Clarke explained, aware that she hadn't said enough to convince her friend.

At least, she thought she hadn't. "Okay. And?"

"And?"

"What is your relationship with this girl who's got you smiling as if the sun is just ten times brighter in Amsterdam – since based on your photo, Iknow it isn't."

"I mean... I don't know exactly? More than friends if that's what you're asking."

"Obviously."

"So?"

"So define more than friends, C!" Octavia said, sounding like she was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Wait, are you mad at me or not?" Clarke demanded, unable to handle the confusion. She didn't want to approach Octavia like she was mad when she wasn't, because that would just make her friend mad anyway. She had to know where she stood ahead of time.

Octavia huffed. "No, I'm not. Now talk." Despite her surprise, Clarke continued.

"I really like her. She makes me feel like I'm actually living. I mean, part of that is just Europe. But there's no way I would've been able to enjoy anything like I have without her. Not to mention, she listens and she cares and she gets me. And she tells me stuff, too," Clarke said, smiling slightly. "I don't usually go from just meeting someone to actually needing them... but I don't know what kind of state of mind I'd be in right now if it weren't for her. I'd be back in DC already, probably not in a good place mentally."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"So what? You mad at me or not?"

"I'm not, Clarke," Octavia promised. "You're sure she's not just playing you or something, right? People out in the world are weird, you know?"

"You know that I know that, O," Clarke insisted. "We were all in Vegas when we saw that one thing, remember?"

"Hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," Octavia reminded the blonde playfully. "Anyway, Clarke, you look really happy in that picture. I was freaking out, and I started ranting to my mom about it while I was helping her out. She wanted to see the picture and she pointed out how happy you looked in it... and I can't be mad about that. Plus... I kinda have something to tell you."

"What?" Clarke demanded, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't get mad at Rae, because she knew, but I asked her not to tell you, because I wanted to," Octavia prefaced, leaving Clarke only more curious than before. "Lincoln and I are officially dating."

Clarke felt a grin split across her face. "Oh my gosh, seriously?"

"Yep."

"Finally! Geez, O, you two have literally both been pining over each other for like a year and a half," Clarke exclaimed, shaking her head.

"He was dating someone then! And when they broke up, he told me that he wasn't ready to date anyone else! And then he never brought it up, so I just assumed!" Octavia defended.

"But he was so obvious!"

Octavia huffed. "Whatever. Just because you're falling in love with someone you met not even two weeks ago doesn't mean that everyone can get together with someone that quickly." Clarke froze, her jaw dropping.

"I'm not in love with Lexa, Octavia."

"Shit, I didn't mean to say it like you really are," the brunette immediately said. "Seriously, pretend like I never said it. I am not going to be that person that says something and messes shit up. Nope. It didn't happen."

Clarke smiled, laughing at the sudden fear in Octavia's voice. "It's fine, O. I just... I haven't known her long enough for something like that. You know?"

"I know," Octavia agreed. "And by the way, my mom said to tell you that when you're back, she's having a dinner party. You and your mom are invited. Also Raven and, you know, the usual. I think she knows that shit's gonna be weird between you and your mom and some other people when you're back. Speaking of which, did the asshole text you at all?"

"What about the asshole?" a voice on the other end of the line suddenly called.

"That's Rae," Octavia said, "I just got back to the apartment. Lemme get you on speaker." The phone call suddenly became speaker. "I was just asking if he texted her."

"Oh yeah, do I need to go beat him up?"

Clarke rolled her eyes, but not at her friends. "Yeah, he did. I told him to fuck off, though, or else you'd beat him up."

"Wow, I feel used," Raven deadpanned.

"You just asked if you needed to beat him up!" Clarke exclaimed, just as the door to the hotel room opened, revealing Lexa, without clothes. The blonde assumed that she'd just started her load and probably waited until she thought it was safe to return. Clarke immediately flashed her a smile to let her know that all was well, and Lexa came and sat with her legs crossed next to Clarke. She took out her laptop, probably to deal with the pictures on her phone from the I Amsterdam sign.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can just offer up my services," Raven insisted. "What did I miss while you two were chatting it up without me?"

"I told her I'm dating Lincoln."

"Oh finally. I went through like a whole conversation today with her and had to hold it in."

"We were literally talking about something totally different," Clarke said, shaking her head. "There's no way you were thinking about telling me that."

Her friends ignored her, something they did sometimes just to mess with her. "We also caught up on the Lexa stuff."

"Did she tell you if they've had sex yet?" Raven demanded.

Clarke immediately felt her cheeks flush red, and she hoped that her friends were not being loud enough to be heard by Lexa. "No, she said nothing like that. Why, did she say that to you?"

"No," Raven groaned, "but they're sharing a hotel room."

"Are they sharing a bed?"

"Guys, you know I'm still here right?" Clarke snapped, and was not surprised to hear Raven snicker.

"Yeah, yeah. You guys sharing a bed?"

Clarke's blue gaze jumped over to Lexa, who looked to be on her email or something. She didn't seem to be paying attention to Clarke at all. "Uh... no?"

"So yes."

"Since Paris?" Raven asked, sounding like she was in awe.

"No!"

"You're answering in one word answers," Octavia commented, "so Lexa's in the room."

"I didn't say that."

"Fine, if she's not, then repeat after me 'Lexa and I fucked'," Raven said, speaking very loudly.

"Shut up, Raven!" Clarke squeaked, and if the brunette next to her hadn't heard her best friend through the phone and been curious about what was going on, she definitely was as she looked at Clarke with confusion and also amusement. Clarke was sure that her face was as red as a fucking tomato at that point.

"Everything okay?" Lexa asked, smirking a little. Clarke was almost entirely sure that her companion at least knew what her friends were interrogating her about.

"Yes," Clarke said, still blushing and trying to resist covering her face with her hands. "Everything's fine." Lexa raised an eyebrow, but looked back to her computer.

"Ooh, did Lexa join the convo?" Raven demanded.

"I bet it's because Clarke's blushing. That's what she does when you talk to her about her having sex with someone," Octavia stated.

Raven hummed in agreement. "Yeah. Sometimes it makes me doubt that she's confident in the bedroom like she claims."

"Shut up, Raven!" Clarke exclaimed. "Seriously!"

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Octavia exclaimed, and the sound cut out for a second, and Clarke knew what was coming.

"Oh fuck."

"What?" Lexa asked, as if she could tell that Clarke wasn't talking to her friends when she said it. She looked back to the blonde, who was holding her phone away from her ear now.

"My lovely friends are trying to Face Time me," Clarke muttered.

Lexa laughed. "Don't not answer it just because I'm here. Won't bother me."

Clarke pursed her lips and clicked the answer button on her phone, facing it pointedly toward herself and not toward Lexa. As soon as she accepted the call, the faces of her best friends appeared on the screen in front of her. Raven immediately gasped. "It's Clarke's face!"

"You just saw my face like three hours ago." Clarke scoffed.

"It's not the same in a picture," Raven insisted.

"What time is it there?" Octavia asked.

"Almost nine," the blonde replied, pulling her legs up from under the blankets and crossing them, similar to how Lexa was sitting next to her. She was still keeping the brunette out of the camera intentionally.

"What's the future like?" Raven demanded, her eyes widening.

"Not bad," Clarke replied, chuckling as her cheeks tinged pink. "Amsterdam has good cocktails."

"Not often you hear Clarke Griffin compliment a drink that she didn't make herself," Octavia mused, raising an eyebrow. "Or are you just still tipsy?"

"I'm not."

"She was on the phone with me earlier though," Raven said, smirking.

"I wasn't!"

"Didn't your mom call you, though? Did you talk to her while you were tipsy?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "For like two minutes. She was working – unsurprisingly. So I got out of talking to her."

"Wow, what a nice daughter you are."

"I officially win best child award, by the way. Bellamy called mom today while I was helping her move furniture," Octavia said, "and I promptly took the phone away from her and told him that his services were not required."

"But didn't you say that he's seen her more often than you have in the past few weeks?"

"Doesn't matter," Octavia insisted.

Raven waved her hand at her roommate. "Whatever, your life is boring, O. I wanna talk about Clarke's clearly far more interesting life. Where's the hot brunette you may or may not be sleeping with?"

Clarke nearly choked on air, blood rushing to her cheeks as Lexa suddenly laughed from next to her. Clarke flashed her a glare as green eyes met hers. "Oh god, you're blushing," Lexa commented.

"Ooh! I heard her!" Octavia exclaimed.

"I hate all of you," Clarke growled, before turning a phone a little bit to get Lexa in the frame. The two brunettes on the phone gasped.

"Hi!" Raven called, waving. "You're actually way more hot via live video than a picture. Just so you know."

"That's because Clarke sucks at taking pictures," Lexa offered, causing the blonde's jaw to drop as Octavia started laughing.

Huffing, Clarke pointed to each of her friends, telling Lexa, "This is Raven – she's an idiot. This is Octavia – she's slightly less of an idiot."

"Victory!" Octavia exclaimed.

Clarke turned the phone away from the brunette, who was smiling widely at the two idiots on Clarke's phone. The blonde tossed her a playful glare that was returned by a sweet smile. Not able to hold her glare, she felt her face soften as she looked back at her friends, who were grinning like idiots.

"Bed sharing confirmed, by the way," Raven said through the silence.

"Fuck you, Raven."

"No thanks, but I'm sure Lexa would let you fuck her..."

"And, you're done," Clarke said, her eyes wide and her cheeks red again, as she heard Lexa chuckle from next to her. She hung up the Face Time call as both of her friends laughed, and she tossed it down before actually covering her hot face with her hands.

Suddenly, though, two hands were pulling hers away. Lexa's computer was no longer on the bed, and the brunette was on her knees in front of her on the bed. "You blush a lot when your friends mention sex."

"That's because they're not supposed to mention it when you're right there!" Clarke squeaked, her eyes wide.

Lexa smirked, her hands dropping to Clarke's crossed legs and gripping them, tugging lightly and causing the blonde to extend them rather than cross them. Lexa straddled her lap as she did so. "Your friends seem very nice."

"They're both idiots."

Lexa smiled. "They're funny."

"Idiots."

"Mmhmm," Lexa hummed, her hands pushing Clarke's hair gently behind her ear. "Did you have a good day today? I know it was kinda stressful."

"I think there were more ups than downs," Clarke replied, increasingly aware of her proximity to the brunette, and becoming slightly more affected by it, "so yes, I think I did have a good day. Thanks for the drinks, by the way."

"No problem," the brunette insisted, her hands suddenly falling to Clarke's shoulder, her fingers dragging down off of her sleeves and across the bare skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps. She noticed Clarke shiver, and smiled softly, though her eyes were darkening even as blue ones stared into them. She closed the distance between them with a surprisingly needy kiss, burning like fire between them.

Clarke's hands fell onto Lexa's thighs, gripping them despite the fact that they were still clothed. Lexa hummed against the blonde's lips, and Clarke suddenly wanted to be on top of the brunette. She leaned into Lexa, still holding onto her thighs, and pushed the girl back slightly. Lexa let out a slight squeak as Clarke swiftly reversed their positions, laying Lexa down on the bed and hovering above her, keeping their lips connected.

Lexa broke their kiss slightly, though, and began to murmur something as Clarke instead went to suck the skin on the girl's neck. "What do you think you're doing?" she murmured softly.

"I think I'm gonna fuck you," Clarke all but purred against her neck in response, and the brunette under her moaned at the words.

"Show me."

"I think you can wait a little longer," the blonde insisted, her left hand – which wasn't propping her up – sliding teasingly along Lexa's midsection, near both her breasts and her center but not going quite close enough to either. It would've been difficult to anyway, because they were both still fully clothed. Lexa whimpered, and Clarke was not exactly sure when the brunette had gotten to aroused, but she was not about to complain.

Clarke pulled her lips away from the brunette, grabbing the bottom of her own shirt and tearing it off of her head, followed by unclasping her bra and tossing it aside. "Take yours off," she growled to Lexa, who sat up a little in order to obey the request. When their upper bodies were fully exposed, Clarke lowered her lips back to Lexa's, but still avoided touching the brunette.

Finally, though, her thigh slid between Lexa's, the other girl immediately beginning to rock against it any hopes for any friction, even through the clothing. Meanwhile, her left hand began fondling with Lexa's breasts. She was still mostly teasing, however, and she knew that Lexa was not feeling very patient.

"Clarke," Lexa finally pleaded, while the blonde's lips were trailing along her collarbone and drifting down toward her chest, "fuck me please."

"What was that?" Clarke mumbled, before taking Lexa's nipple into her mouth and sucking on it, stopping whatever words had been about to escape her. The brunette grunted instead, and Clarke released the nipple. "Did you say something, Lexa?"

Lexa didn't answer, instead reaching for the button on her pants and maneuvering around Clarke's thigh to mostly remove them from her body. Clarke finished the job for her, and then tore her own pants from her body. At that point, she lowered her mouth down to Lexa's core and slowly dragged the girl's panties off of her. "Clarke," Lexa pleaded.

"What?"

"Could you fucking touch me already?" the brunette demanded, but Clarke just smirked. She pressed her lips against the soft skin on the inside of her thigh.

"Here?" she murmured against the skin, before dragging her tongue along it. Lexa let out a little whimper, and Clarke asked, "Yes or no?"

"No," Lexa forced out. Clarke moved her lips slightly closer to their destination, and Lexa groaned in frustration. "No."

Finally moving her lips to Lexa's center, bringing her tongue to where she knew Lexa wanted it. "Here?" she murmured against it, but the brunette didn't answer as she gasped. "Not here?"

"Here," Lexa insisted, her hips moving almost too much for Clarke to be able to do anything. She brought her hands up to steady the brunette's movements.

It was over an hour later that they were both entirely naked and laying in the dark room – Clarke had gotten up and turned off the lights after Lexa gave her an academy award worthy pout. Now, though, they were tangled up together under the blankets. Clarke was the little spoon again – she couldn't help that she loved the feeling of Lexa holding her firmly in her arms.

And so they fell asleep that way, after an eventful day, together and in peace.


	13. Chapter 13

Amsterdam was an adventure in itself, but Clarke felt more invigorated that Monday than she had on any other day. Perhaps it came from the fact that she felt about ten times lighter without the guilt of avoiding her family and friends. Not to mention, Amsterdam was definitely an amazing city.

People rode around the city on bikes, almost as much as they did in cars, at least that was how it seemed. That was something that Clarke was not used to, but it made the city feel brighter. Though, it was actually brighter compared to the previous day, as the sun finally crept out a bit. Besides the increased number of bike riders, another thing Clarke noticed that was so entirely different from anywhere in the United States was the pop up toilets. They were silver cylinders that ejected out of the ground,and was divided into little sections, each with a urinal available.

When she saw one, her eyes immediately widened. "What the fuck is that?" she demanded.

"Toilet," Lexa replied, quirking up a curious eyebrow at the blonde, clearly curious to see how she would react. Clarke's jaw dropped as she realized.

"Wait, they just sit there?"

"They come out of the ground," Lexa replied, laughing lightly.

Clarke shook her head. "Okay... alright, totally not weird or anything..." Lexa laughed at her and took her hand, pulling her along.

Like all of the other places Clarke had been with Lexa thus far, Amsterdam's architecture was definitely something amazing. Far cooler than anything in the US, though that was basically a given anyway. She saw the Rijksmuseum, which she hadn't realized that they'd literally been right behind the previous day. They didn't go inside – Clarke didn't feel the need to, and Lexa didn't seem as interested as she was the one in Belgium, since she'd apparently already been to and seen the entirety of the Rijksmuseum.

Overall, it was easy to tell that Amsterdam was a lively, energetic city. There wasn't much time to stop anywhere for a long time, because Lexa had to go across basically the whole city to get the pictures they needed. They stopped in a really beautiful park for pictures, and outside age old buildings that Clarke was amazed were even still standing. When she saw Oude Kerk, the over eight hundred year old church, she realized just how young America was compared to Europe. She knew the age difference, but seeing something that had been around for over twice the amount of time that the US had... it was extremely intimidating.

Beautiful, though. It was all beautiful beyond comprehension. If she hadn't been with Lexa, who was taking enough pictures to fill up a whole art gallery alone, she would've taken so many pictures on her phone. Instead, she limited herself to a single selfie, in which she caught Lexa in the background, taking a photo with her face scrunched up. Clarke couldn't help but think that it was adorable, and she kept it on her phone as revenge for the pictures that Lexa had of her.

They stopped for a late lunch at around four in the afternoon. Lexa was nearing the end of her list of places in the city to take pictures, because they'd actually both woken up fairly early and started their day off almost right away. At least, after they managed to drag themselves out of their bed, where they'd been tangled up without any clothes in between them.

When they were finished eating, they started walking slowly back to their hotel, done with Lexa's list except for one place that they would pass on their way back.

As they walked, Clarke groaned. "I'm so tired."

"You could've stayed at the hotel all day," Lexa teased, and the blonde huffed.

"As if I'd miss all this," she said, shaking her head and trying to ignore the fact that her legs were a little sore. All of the walking from the past week had definitely started to strengthen her legs – that much was obvious – but she was still pretty sore. She could use a long nap, or a massage... or both. "Are we almost back?"

"No," Lexa replied, laughing lightly. Clarke groaned, glancing at the buildings they were passing. They were pretty, but she was exhausted, and not really in the mood for sightseeing anymore. Suddenly, the sound a camera going off drew Clarke's gaze back to Lexa, who she knew was the culprit before catching her with her camera facing the blonde.

"Lexa, I am seriously not camera ready," Clarke whined, pouting in the direction of the camera. Lexa took another picture and the blonde huffed, furrowing her eyebrows. "Lexa..."

"Mmhmm?" Her eyebrow lifted up, as if challenging the blonde. "What?"

"Stop it," Clarke whined, though she moved slightly closer to Lexa, a plan formulating in her mind. "I don't wanna be in any pictures."

"But you're so cute," Lexa argued, taking another one just before Clarke made to dramatically grab the camera from the brunette, who squealed and jumped away, dodging the blonde's arms. She was backing up now, her camera raised in defense. "You wanna try that again?"

"Don't make me chase you for that camera..." Clarke was taking slow steps toward the brunette, who was still walking backwards.

"It's my camera," Lexa reminded her, her green eyes practically sparkling as they dared Clarke to come after her.

"With pictures of my face on it," Clarke bounced back. "You can't walk backwards forever, you're bound to run into something."

"You wouldn't even save me from backing into something?" Lexa asked, feigning hurt as she frowned at the blonde.

"I would in exchange for you deleting those pictures," Clarke offered, grinning cheekily, and making a dive for the brunette and her camera. Lexa suddenly turned and took off at a slightly faced paced jog, and Clarke huffed, starting after her. "Lexa! I am not in shape enough for this!"

"You brought this on yourself, Clarke," Lexa called back, laughing brightly. Clarke couldn't help but feel a flutter in her chest at the sound, though that could've been her heart just threatening to explode because she was basically full on running by now.

When she gave up, and let out a loud sigh of defeat, Lexa stopped running and turned back to face the blonde. "Giving up?"

"I'm so tired," Clarke whined, approaching Lexa, who let her, and then wrapping her arms around the brunette and burying her face in the girl's neck. Lexa seemed slightly surprised, but didn't hesitate to hold her. Which was exactly how Clarke managed to steal the camera from her hands and jump away, exclaiming, "Aha!"

"Wow, that was low," Lexa insisted, though she was rolling her eyes. "Fine, delete them if you want. But at least look at them to make sure you don't change your mind. Seriously, you're adorable."

"No, I'm not," Clarke argued, looking through the pictures that Lexa had snapped of her. "I look half dead."

Lexa chuckled. "You don't." Clarke's finger hovered over the delete button, but she couldn't bring herself to click it.

"Ugh fine, keep your damn stalker pictures," Clarke muttered, all but shoving the camera back at the brunette, who laughed again. "Stop laughing at me, that's mean."

The photographer slipped her phone into her purse, biting her bottom lip to keep in the laugh that Clarke was sure was threatening to escape. "Sorry, can't help it." Huffing, the blonde crossed her arms over her chest.

"So mean to me," she murmured, before taking an abrupt step forward and pressing her lips firmly into Lexa's, the other girl instantly embracing her and pulling Clarke close by the hips. Their kiss broke for half a second, before their lips came together again. Every kiss with Lexa was like fire, or fireworks, or just... it was just always incredible.

Clarke's phone suddenly started ringing from her pocket, and she jumped, slightly surprised by it. She leaned away from Lexa to grab it, and she sighed. "It's my mom."

"Answer it, we're almost at that place I need to take pictures at anyway," Lexa said, nudging her lightly. She took the lead toward that location, and Clarke answered the phone call.

"Hey, mom," she said weakly. "Good morning."

"Good afternoon," her mom returned. "I figured now would be the best time to call you. Since it's not too late there. And I just woke up, I have work in half an hour."

Clarke nodded, before remembering that her mom couldn't see that. "Yeah. I'm really sorry about not calling you, mom, really. I just really needed time away from everything and everyone. What happened with Finn happened at literally the worst time, because of dad and everything... you know?"

"I know, Clarke," her mother said quietly, before inhaling deeply and continuing with, "but running away is not a solution. At least, not the best one. You could've made so many smarter moves than what you did."

"I'm not running away," Clarke insisted, though she instantly realized that she may have sounded a bit too harsh. "I'm... I need this mom. I'm not going to lose my job for real, I'm going to get a place to live as soon as I'm back and I have the money. It's not my fault that Finn dumped me and kicked me out of the apartment."

"You should've been apartment shopping as soon as it happened."

"I was heartbroken mom! I couldn't just hop out of bed the next morning and be like 'Yep, time to look for apartments!'," Clarke exclaimed.

"I know, sweetie, and that's not what I'm saying. I'm just trying to explain that there were better ways to handle the situation. Going to London without talking to anyone first was foolish," her mom insisted. "You could've died, and no one would've known."

"I did tell you where I was going," Clarke defended. "And I told Raven and Octavia. I didn't just disappear. And I also told you all that I wouldn't be calling you when I landed. You should have just expected that I'd be okay. I'm twenty-three, surprise, I actually know how to take care of myself."

"Well you're not right now, are you? There is now way that whatever cash you brought to London with you isn't depleted unless that girl is paying for things for you," her mom stated.

Clarke took in a deep breath, her eyes focusing on Lexa's back. She knew that the girl was trying not to listen to Clarke's conversation with her mom, but it was hard not to hear. However, Lexa's hand was going toward her purse, so the blonde figured they were nearing their last stop of the day before heading back to the hotel. "It's not like that, mom."

"So what is it like, Clarke?"

Lexa stopped, glancing back at Clarke before pointing in the direction she was going. Clarke flashed her a smile and nodded, and then found a bench to sit herself down on. "She's a photographer, her name is Lexa, and she's here for work. But she doesn't want to be alone here, and frankly, after experiencing being alone in London for a day, neither did I. And she asked me to come with her to the other places she needs to take pictures at. And I agreed, and I'm glad that I did. I've never felt this free before, mom."

"And she's paying for your hotels, and your food, and everything?"

"Not everything."

"Is she taking advantage of you?"

Clarke raised her eyebrows. "Define taking advantage, mom?"

"You know what I mean."

"I happen to like Lexa. I know why she wants me here, and she knows why I want to be here, and we're fine here, together."

"I just don't want something bad to happen to you, Clarke, because you're down. And you're hurt and heartbroken, you said so yourself. You're vulnerable. Finding a random girl to be with isn't healthy," Abby insisted. "Rebounds are never a good idea."

"She's not a rebound," Clarke insisted, surprised at her own intensity in the statement. "And I'm not hurt about Finn anymore. I'm pissed at him, but that's it. Lexa is an angel compared to that asshole. She's not a rebound. She's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, mom, and I'm not saying that as some lost puppy. I'm not lost anymore. I know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Her mom sighed. "Okay, then I'll... I'll trust you on it, Clarke. You're right, you're an adult. But I want you to be safe. You have enough money for a return flight when you're ready, right?"

"Yes, and I do still have my credit card with me," Clarke replied. "It might not be another week or so."

"I understand... but you have to understand why I got so frazzled."

Clarke smiled. "I do, mom. I gotta go, though. I love you. And I'll see you in a week or so."

"Love you, too, sweetie."

The call ended, and Clarke pocketed her phone again, letting out a sigh. As she stood up, brushing her hands against her t-shirt and smoothing it out, her eyes caught on a little liquor store nestled between a few other buildings. An idea popped into her head and she smiled to herself. She so desperately missed making drinks.

When Clarke left the liquor store about fifteen minutes later, she found Lexa approaching the bench where she'd left the blonde, looking slightly confused. "Hey," Clarke chirped, drawing the brunette's attention. "Sorry, I saw the store and couldn't resist." She grinned widely.

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "We having a party?"

"You said that you couldn't picture me being a bartender," Clarke stated, looking pointedly at the brunette. "And I know you said that wine is your preferred drink, but I am going to change your mind."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. Come on, you're all done with your pictures, and it's not like we have anything else to do tonight," Clarke said, raising an eyebrow. "And I promise, if you don't like whatever I make, I'll drink it."

"Something tells me that you just wanna get drunk," Lexa commented, smirking.

Clarke shook her head. "I'm tired, and I just wanna have fun. Don't you?" She fluttered her eyelashes at the brunette, who smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, fine. But you should know that we need to get up kind of early tomorrow," Lexa warned. "We have a long train ride." Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand, pulling her in the direction of the hotel. She wasn't exactly sure how she somehow knew which way it was, but Lexa didn't correct her, so she figured she was right.

"Where are we going?"

"Berlin," Lexa answered with a smile. "It's like... six hours to get there by train, and we actually have to technically take multiple. It's the only place that I need to go to that's like really out of the way. It's just easiest to fit it in right now instead of later."

"Okay," Clarke agreed, "so we'll wake up early tomorrow. More of a reason that we need to get back and drink now, so that we can go to bed on time."

"You seem to be in a good mood." Lexa seemed slightly suspicious of it, and Clarke didn't really blame her – she'd just been having a pretty intense conversation with her mom, at least when Lexa had last seen her.

"My mom chilled out, and I haven't made a drink in like three weeks. I'm a bartender for a reason, you know? I actually really like making drinks – and I'm fucking good at it. So come on so that I can prove it to you," Clarke insisted.


	14. Chapter 14

"I haven't had a drink besides wine in like months," Lexa admitted, as Clarke set up what she'd bought from the liquor store on the little table by the window of the hotel room. Lexa had pulled a chair out and was seated on one side of said table, but Clarke was standing, too excited to be making drinks again to stay still.

"You have been missing out," Clarke claimed. "I don't drink very often, but sometimes on my nights off, my friends drag me out to clubs. Thing is, I don't usually like drinks unless I'm the one who made them. I guess I'm just picky."

"Well then I expect whatever your making to be the best drink I've ever had," Lexa teased.

Clarke grinned cockily, though, and promised, "It will be."

It didn't take Clarke too long to make the drink she'd had in mind while scouring the liquor store, and Lexa watched her with interest. Perhaps that was because the brunette didn't think Clarke seemed like a bartender, but it seemed like Lexa was watching just to watch. Clarke didn't ask, instead she made the drink, split it into two of the glasses that the hotel room had on the table, and slid one to the brunette.

She took a sip of her own before Lexa could take a drink, but not because she was worried that it would be less than amazing. Lexa glanced between the glass and Clarke, who was giving her an expectant look. She slowly lifted the glass and took a drink. She took more than a sip, which Clarke took as a good sign, and then hummed in thought as she set it back down.

"It's not... bad."

"Oh come on, you like it," Clarke insisted, taking another drink of her own.

"It's... okay."

"No, it's amazing."

"And you're very humble," Lexa commented sarcastically, laughing lightly and lifting the glass to her lips again. After taking another drink, she admitted, "Okay, I like it."

"Yes!" Clarke exclaimed excitedly, taking a drink in victory.

They drank for a while, and Clarke knew that she was on her way to getting drunk, but she and Lexa were talking and laughing and it was just fun. Clarke didn't feel anymore stress about her mom, or her friends, or her soul-crushing-ex.

They fell asleep practically on top of one another on the bed once it started to get late, though Clarke barely remembered getting into bed when she peeled her eyes open the next morning. Lexa's arm was slung across her body, and they were very close even despite that. But they were fully clothed.

Clarke smiled as she thought about the previous night, nonetheless. At least, until she started to sit up and her head started aching. It wasn't the worst hangover she'd ever had – she had definitely not gotten that drunk the previous night.

Despite her headache, though, she carefully slid out from under Lexa's arm and set to work getting ready to leave. She would wake up Lexa soon – it was actually pretty early, since their night had both started and ended early. Clarke's brain seemed to have a pretty good internal alarm clock, which she hadn't ever even noticed until now. That was because she tended to work afternoons and nights, as one would expect.

As she thought about her job again, she realized that she needed to call her boss – Wick. She glanced at the time – it was six in the morning, which made it midnight in DC. The bar was easily still open, and Wick was always awake when the bar was open, except during very rare occasions.

She grabbed her phone from where she'd left it on the table the previous night, slipped into the bathroom and, before getting ready, dialed his number.

He answered after three rings. "Hey, Clarke. Where have you been? Raven told me about what was going on when you stopped showing up to work, but I thought you would've been back by now to steal your job back. The regulars miss you."

"Yeah, about that... I still definitely want my job back... but I won't be back in DC for about another week," Clarke estimated, not sure if that was accurate or not, but hoping that it was. It was one thing to tell her friends and family that she would be home in a week when she didn't know for sure, but telling her boss might mean that she would have to go home early if Lexa wasn't done by the following Monday or so. "Maybe a little more." She couldn't help but add it.

"Wait, you left DC?"

"Yeah, I took a little break away from the city. It's complicated."

"Fair enough," the man said. "Well, will you be back by next Friday?"

"Yes," Clarke answered, knowing that saying no at this point might actually get her to lose her job for real. Plus, she did think that she'd be back by then. And if Lexa wasn't planning on being back by then... Clarke would just have to leave her. The thought pained her, but she couldn't lose her job.

"Great, so as long as you're working by the Monday after next, you'll keep your job."

Clarke exhaled, relieved. "Thank you, Wick. Seriously."

"Don't worry about it, Clarke," he insisted, "you've always been my favorite employee, and you're the regulars' favorite bartender. Would hate to tell them that you were gone permanently."

"Well, you won't need to," Clarke promised, smiling. "Thanks again, Wick, I'll let you go. See you in a couple of weeks!" She hung up once he'd said his own farewell, and then contently set her phone down on the counter of the bathroom. She smiled at herself in the mirror, suddenly aware that she looked far better than she did during the two weeks of her wallowing. For one, there were no bags under her eyes. The exhaustion from walking through beautiful cities was nothing compared to the wallowing, even if she'd been sleeping while exhausted during that. She looked less tense, looked much more fresh and happy.

Which she was.

When she left the bathroom a little over half an hour later, Lexa was just starting to wake up, stretching out her arms. "Good morning," she murmured, as she noticed the blonde entering the room again. "You been up a while?"

"A little while," Clarke replied, smiling. "I called my boss, and found out that I won't be losing my job for real. Which is a relief."

"You called him now?"

Clarke waved her hand dismissively. "He never sleeps."

"If you say so," Lexa mumbled, burying her sleepy face back into the pillow under her head.

"You know," Clarke said, approaching the bed, "you were the one who said we needed to get up early today. So get your pretty little ass up."

Lexa peeked out of the pillow, her cheeks reddened a bit. "I don't wanna. We can skip Berlin." Clarke raised an eyebrow, amused, and the brunette huffed. "Fine. I'll get up." She didn't move. "In a second."

Clarke rolled her eyes, going back into the bathroom to retrieve her things. When she was back in the room to stuff them into her suitcase, she saw Lexa nearly falling back asleep. Dropping her things by her back, she knelt onto the mattress, looking down at the brunette with a smile.

She ducked her head and pressed her lips against Lexa's exposed neck, pushing some of the dark hair aside. The brunette hummed appreciatively, and Clarke gently pushed the brunette from laying on her side to laying on her back, before straddling her. Lexa's green eyes opened again, though they were darker than they'd been a moment ago. "Hello," the brunette husked.

"So now you're awake?" Clarke commented, smirking slightly as her fingers splayed across Lexa's stomach, above the thin fabric of her shirt.

"Mmhmm," Lexa hummed in response, looking expectantly up at the blonde. "But I'm not opposed to going back to sleep."

"Are you threatening me?" Clarke asked, laughing lightly. "I'm pretty sure that going to Berlin is something that you need to do, not me."

Lexa pouted, and Clarke obliged despite herself, leaning down and pressing her lips firmly against Lexa's. They shared the sweet kiss for a moment, but then Clarke abruptly pulled up and got off of Lexa. "Up and at 'em, Lex," she teased, smiling at the girl who groaned in response.

"Fine," she huffed out, sliding her legs out from under the blanket and forcing herself to get up out of the bed. Meanwhile, Clarke began shoving her things into her suitcase and getting ready to leave. One of them should be timely about things anyway.

Lexa walked into the bathroom but didn't bother to close the door as Clarke heard her start to get ready. "What time is our train?"

"Eight-thirty," Lexa replied.

"It's almost seven," Clarke informed her, "so I'm assuming that means we need to leave pretty soon."

"Yep."

They actually had to rush a bit to pack up entirely, check over the hotel room to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Neither of them really knew if there were any rules about bringing alcohol onto a train in Europe, so Clarke ended up just shoving the still quite decently bottles deep into her suitcase and covering them with all of her clothing. When they were done packing, they then hurriedly checked out of the hotel. Once they were checked out, they managed to catch a bus to Amsterdam Central Station just as they exited the hotel, and made it to the train station by eight. That gave them half an hour to find their way to where they needed to be, and by the time their first train left, they were seated comfortably in side it.

"What's Berlin like?" Clarke wondered, looking curiously at the brunette across from her.

Lexa shrugged, smiling a little. "Its big, actually pretty modern looking too. It's a really cool city. I only went there for a day when I was there before, so I didn't see much besides where I was taking pictures. And pictures are nice, but if I don't have time to just look without a camera in between me and something... the effect is kind of lost. Looking back at photos is nice, but you never get the same experience as when you're standing right in front of something. You know?"

Clarke nodded, her eyes stuck curiously on the beautiful girl across from her. She actually could understand by now, because even though she wasn't the most knowledgeable about other cultures, she had definitely seen pictures of things like the Eiffel Tower and whatnot. But it was entirely different looking on it with her own eyes. And it was the things that people didn't photograph that were often the things people want to look at it. The things that are small and old and not too magnificent, but are beautiful nonetheless. Clarke could recall seeing tens of little things like that during her time with Lexa. She'd never thought that she could appreciate such small things so much.

Lexa took some pictures like that – the ones that people didn't usually take pictures of. Sometimes she just photographed a street from different angles, and Clarke supposed that those were the most meaningful in the comparison that the brunette's pictures were meant to make. She hoped to get the chance to see the whole exhibit when it was done. If it was in New York, that wouldn't be all too far to drive.

Her stomach clenched, though, thinking about going back to DC while Lexa went back to New York. It was something that, although didn't feel too imminent, was starting to dawn on her. Mostly because she'd finally reconnected with her mom and friends in DC, and had scheduled a day that she needed to be back. Even if she didn't know how many more places they were going, or how long it would take, or where they were going... it still felt like the end of it was all too near.

Clarke realized that she had been silent for a minute or so, and she cleared her throat before asking, "So are we staying in Berlin for just a day?"

"I think that's the plan," Lexa admitted. "Like I said, it's a bit out of the way with the train ride. I wish we could be there longer, but I think if we stay today and I get all my pictures before it gets too dark – and actually some of them can be in the dark – then we can check out at around noon tomorrow and catch a train to the next place. It's another super long commute, and that's the only reason to cut Berlin short."

"So you have a set end date then?" Clarke wondered, curious as she lifted an eyebrow. "Or else it wouldn't matter if you spent an extra day in Berlin."

A small smile appeared on Lexa's face. "Yeah, I have one. A tentative one, and a solid one a few days later. I've actually already pushed the tentative one. So, it is kind of important that we pace ourselves."

"You pushed it because of me, didn't you?" Clarke asked, raising an eyebrow.

A blush suddenly rose onto Lexa's cheeks, and Clarke awaited the explanation that quickly followed. "I've pushed it two days. One because of London. I meant to leave that night that I took you out. I was going to take a night train into Paris and then just crash and start pictures the next morning. Time saver. Then, in Paris, I meant to rush through it. I mean, it is my favorite city... but it used to make me feel kind of sad, thinking of being there by myself again. Obviously, I didn't have that problem once you were with me."

Clarke felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Happy to help." The brunette laughed, her expression bright and nothing like what Clarke imagined she would've looked like were she alone. She would probably be wearing that same expression of focus and determination the whole time throughout her trip, rather than wearing it when just taking photos.

Then again, she may not have planned on stopping taking photos except to eat and sleep.

"I'm serious, though, Clarke. I really appreciate you being here with me, even if it did push my initial deadline a few days," Lexa said, smiling softly. "I don't know if I could've done it all alone again."

Clarke returned the smile. "You definitely don't deserve to have to do it all alone... you deserve the world, Lexa."

"If you say so," Lexa said, laughing lightly. "Way to go all sappy on me, by the way."

The blonde's jaw dropped. "You did it first!"

"Nope."

"Yes!"

"You have no proof," the brunette insisted, a mysterious glint in her eye. "Anyway." She was clearly trying the fight the smile that was appearing on her face anyway. "I've gotta move around my Amsterdam photos."

"So responsible," Clarke commented, rolling her eyes as she fiddled with her bag, retrieving her sketchbook, ready to entertain herself. "Choosingwork over talking to me." She flashed the photographer her best pout, and Lexa just smirked.

"Well, that is kind of how I earn money," Lexa reminded her, chuckling lightly.

"You mean when you're not working at a museum pretending to hate it," Clarke recalled playfully. She lifted an eyebrow and sent the brunette a challenging look. Lexa met her gaze evenly and rolled her eyes, submitting and not facing the challenge, much to Clarke's disappointment. Lexa had retrieved her laptop by now, so the blonde just sighed and flipped open her sketchbook. The last filled page was the one filled with doodles of Lexa's face, and she flipped past it to the next one. And on there, she started a real sketch of Lexa. Real payback for all the pictures Lexa had of Clarke, she supposed.

She drew for the whole time that Lexa was on her computer, and she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was drawing Lexa's face. Though, she didn't think that the brunette noticed, because she remained utterly focused on the task at hand. Clarke thought that it was adorable, and couldn't resist smiling when she drew the little crease on the brunette's forehead in between her eyebrows, which were knit in concentration.

The blonde actually managed to finish her sketch of the brunette just as Lexa was folding up her laptop and sliding it away. She was finishing the definition of Lexa's chin on her paper when green eyes finally fell on her and realized what she was doing. "Are you drawing me?" Lexa's voice broke through the peaceful silence, but Clarke wasn't bothered by it at all.

She smiled a little. "I can't believe you only just noticed."

"Can I see?" The other girl didn't seem freaked out at all, which Clarke thought was definitely a good thing. She turned her sketchbook around, and Lexa's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. That's really good."

"I wasn't going to make you look like a troll," Clarke teased, though a blush spread across her cheeks at the compliment. "And it's only that good because you're actually that beautiful."

A chuckle escaped the brunette's lips, and she said, "Smooth. But thank you." Clarke passed the brunette a wink, and was proud when her cheeks also turned pink.

They kept up a conversation for a little while, but Clarke knew when Lexa was in desperate need of sleep, and she casually drew their conversation to an end for her sake. Sure enough, Lexa was curled up against the window not five minutes later, fast asleep. Clarke tried to stay awake for a little while after that, but her internet connection for some reason sucked, and she ended up falling asleep as well.

Both of them had to wake up to switch trains, and it got harder and harder for them to fall asleep during the four different trains they had to switch to. Nevertheless, they spent quite a large portion of their travel time asleep.

Thus, upon their arrival in Berlin, Germany, they were hardly in need of any sleep. Berlin Central Station was huge, and Clarke followed Lexa around as per usual in order to get where they needed to be. The language she heard around her – German, obviously – was similar to Dutch, but clearly different. Though, Clarke still understood nothing that was being said. She did hear other languages every now and then, though. Dutch and French she could recognize, and obviously the English that she heard around was easily recognizable.

When they stepped out of the train station, they were greeted by what looked like the outskirts of the main part of the city. Lexa led Clarke to a bus that would apparently bring them where they needed to be. The blonde couldn't help but be slightly amused at the fact that if Lexa did turn out to be a serial killer, she already had Clarke trusting her enough that she would be dead in seconds. Not that she thought that Lexa was a serial killer.

"What are you smiling about?" Lexa asked, looking at her from the seat next to her on the bus.

Clarke smirked. "Nothing. If you were a serial killer, you could've easily killed me by now. I basically follow you around like a lost puppy."

Lexa laughed a bit loudly, shaking her head. "If I were a serial killer, I would've killed you by now. As it seems, though, I like you a bit too much to kill you."

"Aw, I'm flattered," Clarke replied, stifling the giggle that she was threatening to escape her. She leaned against Lexa's a little bit and turned her head to look out the window of the bus. It seemed like they were going further into the main area of the city, and she knew that Lexa's description was accurate. It was magnificent, the city, modern and yet with still the sense of age old value. The same sense that almost all of Europe seemed to ooze with.

Clarke knew by now how Lexa could be such a history nerd – which she obviously was since she'd majored in it. Even Clarke, after looking at the old buildings of a city, found herself wondering how, why, where, and when. She made herself a mental note to ask Lexa any questions she's developed from exploring Europe sometime before the end of their journey. Even though she wasn't sure when that would be.

It was only a little after midday when they got to their hotel. They didn't bother doing anything in the room aside from use the bathroom before heading out. Lexa had a list to cover, and Clarke had sightseeing to do.

Though, despite her interest in her surroundings, for the first time, Clarke found herself actually staring at Lexa almost as much as the beautiful city. She tried not to get caught by the brunette, but it was hard not to watch her. She was focused when she took pictures, stolen away into a world where it was just her and the camera and the subject of the picture. When she wasn't pleased with her picture, she would bite down on her lower lip and try again. When she was satisfied, the crease between her eyebrows diminished and her eyes became hungry for more source material. Clarke could watch her for hours on hours.

And that was when Clarke first felt herself falling.


	15. Chapter 15

"I thought German food was just like... sausages."

The laugh that Lexa released was worth the mild embarrassment of admitting the little fun fact, and Clarke felt a small smile appear on her face as she took a bite of the food in front of her. She still wasn't exactly sure what it was – she wasn't much of a food person, though she did know that it tasted really fucking good. "Of course you did," Lexa said, still chuckling and shaking her head.

"This is actually really good," she admitted, smiling a little to herself. "It feels like it's been such a long day, but I'm pretty sure we spent like half of it sleeping on the train."

"That's what makes it a long day," Lexa insisted. "When I sleep during the day, it feels like my day became two days in one."

"So you mean every day?"

"I do not fall asleep during the middle of the day everyday," Lexa refuted, shaking her head insistently and glancing up at the blonde, who was sure her blue eyes were sparkling. That's what it felt like when she made eye contact with Lexa – like her eyes lit up without her telling them to. "Justsome days."

"Mmhmm," Clarke hummed sarcastically.

Their day had been long, though, even after their train ride. It was actually fairly late – a little past nine. They had crammed a full day's worth of pictures into half a day, because Lexa claimed that she wanted to spend the next morning just being lazy and walking around the city a bit before they left in the early afternoon on a train back across Germany.

Lexa wouldn't tell the blonde where they were going, just that it was another place in Germany further west. The brunette seemed excited about it, though, when she talked about it, so Clarke took that to mean that it was going to be a nice place. Not that she doubted that. She had trouble believing that any part of Europe couldn't fascinate her in some way or another.

And while it was getting late, Clarke didn't actually feel like she could fall asleep yet. Maybe part of that was because she knew that Raven was expecting a phone call from her before she went to bed. If she didn't call, she wouldn't hear the end of it. She would have called earlier, but Raven usually worked in the morning until the mid afternoon, and it was Tuesday, so she would definitely be working.

Lexa set down her fork, her plate just about empty, and rolled her shoulders. "I'm definitely ready to crash. I don't think I can even stand – my legs are sore and now I'm stuffed too."

"Oh poor you," Clarke teased, batting her eyelashes when Lexa tried to glare at her. The expression immediately dissipated. "You going to survive the walk back to the hotel?" They'd purposely picked a restaurant close to the hotel – they being Lexa, since Clarke had declared herself directionally challenged when Lexa asked if it was close enough – so that they could get back easily after eating. "I'm probably gonna be super annoying and accidentally keep you awake when we get back. I have to call Raven. I can try to keep it short and just talk to her while you're showering, though."

"Don't worry about it," Lexa insisted, "it won't keep me up. I'm way too tired. Plus, your voice is soothing."

Clarke blushed a little, even though the compliment was so innocent. "Okay." She was finishing up her food by then, and the waitress who had brought their food out to them appeared with their check. She said nothing as she set it on the table, asking in broken English if they needed anything else. Lexa quickly told her that they were fine, and the woman smiled and walked off. Lexa filled the check with Euros, and then she and the blonde were ready to go.

Their walk back to the hotel was quiet – Clarke could feel Lexa's exhaustion, and it almost made her more tired.

When they got back, Lexa practically stumbled as she went into the bathroom and began to shower. Clarke tried not to laugh at how tired she seemed to be, and she settled into the little chair at the far end of the room, nestled next to the window that looked out over dark, but lit up, Berlin. Once comfortable, she unlocked her phone and found her best friend's contact, clicking the call button swiftly and holding the device to her ear.

The phone rang only once before Raven was answering the call. "Perfect timing," the brunette breathed out, "I just got out of work, and I was just considering dragging my key against this asshole's car. He implied that my job doesn't actually contribute to the 'good of the company', even though I literally spent hours today setting up the software on his new new computer. He's so clueless. He buys a nice new computer built for Windows and asks me if I'm putting the new iOS on it. Pretty sure he doesn't even know what iOS is."

Clarke chuckled, tucking her legs under herself. "Well, I don't want you to get arrested for property damage, so I guess it is a good thing I just found time to call you."

"What have you been doing all day?" Raven wondered.

"We got into Berlin," Clarke replied, glancing out at the city through the window. "Lexa had to take photographs for most of the day. So we mostly just explored and did that. We just got back from having dinner."

"How long are you there for?"

"Just today and tomorrow morning."

"How many more places does Lexa have to go?" Raven wondered, and Clarke was kind of glad that she didn't know and wasn't able to give her an answer.

"Not sure," she replied. "She won't tell me, but I'm kind of glad she won't. I don't wanna know. That would make the end just feel closer. You know?"

Raven made a noise of acknowledgment, and then asked, "So you never wanna come back to us then?" It was a joke, but her best friend still sounded a bit down as she asked.

"I called Wick this morning, like really early, so he was still up. He said as long as I'm back by the Monday after next, I can keep my job. Which means that I will definitely be back by then. Probably before. I don't think that this trip will last more than another week. And of course part of me wants to come back. It's just... part of me really likes being adventurous and trying new things and then, there's..." Her voice trailed off and she bit down on her lower lip, knowing very well what she was going to say and why she didn't want to admit it.

"Lexa," Raven finished for her, the sadness in her voice gone. "You really like her."

Clarke sighed. "Yeah. She just makes me feel... free."

"She seems sweet, or at least funny," Raven commented. "Where does she live again?"

"New York."

"So not far."

"No, not far," Clarke agreed, her ears attuned to the drumming of the water in the shower. Once it was off, she would need to be discussing something other than Lexa. She did not want Lexa to come in and hear her talking about her. "But not close either. Four hours is a long way to drive."

"Some people have it way worse," Raven commented, sounding like she was now in the car, probably driving back to her apartment from work. "At least your girlfriend won't be across the country. And hey, at least she isn't actually from Europe. That would be pretty far."

"She's not my girlfriend," Clarke said quietly.

Raven snorted on the other end of the phone. "Did she say that? The way you talk about her definitely sounds like you two are together."

"We haven't talked about anything like that," Clarke brushed it off. "I don't know if I'm ready to something like that, Rae. I mean, I really like her, but... I'm not stable."

"You're certainly more stable since you've been with her. I think that's reason enough to justify dating her," her best friend insisted. "You were in like little pieces when you left Clarke. Even just talking to you, and seeing that picture of you, and Face Timing you... I can tell that you are literally almost completely put back together again. I'm pretty sure you didn't do all that yourself. I'd almost be scared to see what would happen if you two left Europe and didn't stay together. I don't want you to fall apart again, Clarke."

Clarke lowered her gaze, opening her mouth to reply, but then she heard the shower go off. She knew that they still had a few minutes before Lexa would be in the room, within earshot, but it was possible that she would be able to hear them through the door as well. "We gotta talk about something else," Clarke said quietly. "Lexa's out of the shower."

"Alrighty," Raven replied. "Have you bought me anything in all of the amazing places you've been?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Just a t-shirt would be great. I don't care from where," Raven replied, laughing lightly.

"Oh shit," Clarke muttered, sighing as she realized something. "I didn't buy myself a souvenir from any of the last three cities that Lexa and I went to. Ugh."

"Well, you have pictures from Amsterdam, right?"

"Yeah, but nothing from Belgium," Clarke said, sighing. "I was trying to buy something from every place I went to. Leave it to me to forget that after two cities."

"You'll survive," Raven insisted. "Plus, it isn't the last time you'll go there, remember? You owe me a huge European vacation. I'll cash it in when convenient, but you definitely owe it to me." The bathroom door opened, drawing Clarke's gaze to wear Lexa was emerging from the little room, clothed in a tank and short shorts, drying her hair with a towel.

"You still there, C?"

"Yeah," Clarke said, looking back to the window. "And I don't know how you expect me to pay for a whole trip to Europe for you at any point in the future."

"Aw, you're not going to make big bucks a bartender anytime soon?" The sarcasm in her voice wasn't harsh, though, and it brought a smile to Clarke's lips.

"Wouldn't that be nice. You're the one whose gonna make big bucks, Rae, you're gonna have to take me to Europe again."

"Maybe I'll just drop it on you last minute and leave you in the dust one Friday morning," Raven joked, and Clarke's blue eyes rolled at the comment. "Anyway, who knows if I'm going to make anymore money than I do now ever. This place pays decent, though it could be better considering how much extra shit I do for them every fucking day. Assuming that one day I can get enough time off to actually develop my own stuff, then yeah, maybe one day I'll be the rich one of this friendship."

"You already are the rich one in this friendship," Clarke insisted, laughing lightly.

"Who's sitting in a fancy hotel in Berlin right now, again?" Raven commented, but she didn't give the blonde a chance to answer, which Clarke appreciated since she didn't know what she would say without mentioning how Lexa was paying for it. It felt weird to mention that with Lexa in the room. "So, when O gets off work today, she and Lincoln are going out."

"Unsurprising."

"Yeah," Raven agreed. "They're never going to not be together. I'm just glad that he has his own apartment, so they can have loud sex there instead of in our apartment. I would not be able to handle it. I just hope that if they're going to decide to move in together, that they tell me ahead of time. Both of us kinda need this place."

Clarke blinked, realizing something. "Hey, if Octavia ends up moving in with Lincoln, couldn't I just take her room in the apartment? That way I can just start paying her part."

"That might work," Raven said, "though the place is in both of our names ever since our last meeting about the lease, so we might have to talk to the landlord a little bit. That would definitely be easier than straight up moving to a new place."

"That way all we have to do is move me in. And it's not like I have a lot of shit anyway. Because somehow, almost everything in my apartment is under Finn's fucking name," Clarke muttered, rolling her eyes.

"How exactly did he end up with the place? Isn't the gentlemanly thing to do just to politely provide a break up speech and then move out."

"No idea," Clarke replied, sighing. "He was never much of a gentleman anyway. We kind of ended that argument over him breaking up with me screaming... and I just grabbed like all of my stuff and hightailed it out of there. Some of the stuff there is still mine but... I mean, we can get it when I'm back in DC. Our rent was almost up, so he'll probably move into a smaller place in a month or so. Thank goodness, too, because Harper lives in that building and I do not want to go to a party there and run into him. I never want to see his face literally ever again."

"If you ever have to," Raven started, "I'll punch it in for you, and then it won't even look like him."

Clarke laughed abruptly, and she could practically picture Raven smiling with triumph at getting the blonde to lighten up a bit. "I miss you, Rae," she said to her best friend, smiling softly.

"I miss you too, babe," Raven replied. "Oh, Bell's calling me. Oh shit, he's actually been texting me the whole time he's been driving. Apparently trying to get into the apartment to get something he left."

"I'll let you deal with that," Clarke said, finally looking away from the window and over to the bed, where Lexa was curled up under the blankets, breathing evenly. "I'll call you tomorrow. Love you, Rae."

"Love you too, C!" Raven replied. "Goodnight!" The call ended, and Clarke got up from the chair, padding silently across the dark room. She didn't remember Lexa turning off the lights, but it definitely hadn't bothered her. Quietly, she plugged her phone into her charger, after digging it out of her backpack, then grabbed a change of clothes and her small bathroom bag and heading into the bathroom.

Once ready to sleep, she turned off the light in the bathroom and tiptoed again through the dark and to the bed. She slid carefully under the covers next to Lexa, but as she laid down, the brunette stirred and her eyes flickered open.

"Did I wake you up?" Clarke asked.

"I wasn't asleep."

"I thought you said me talking wasn't going to keep you up," Clarke said, frowning guiltily. The brunette shook her head.

"It wasn't that," she murmured, a blush appearing on her cheeks, even though it was barely visible through the darkness. "I couldn't sleep knowing you were close to me but not next to me."

Clarke felt warmth spread to her own cheeks. She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on the brunette reddened cheek, before sliding her arms around her and burying her face into Lexa's neck. "Now you can sleep," she whispered, and the brunette answered with an affirmative hum, and soon, they were both asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

She knew it wasn't early when she felt herself waking up – the light pressing against her eyelids as if it were solid was enough to tell the blonde that much. However, it wasn't what woke her up, she realized, as she felt a weight over the middle of her body and lips against her neck. Sighing, she leaned her head to the side a bit, allowing Lexa better access to the skin on her neck. Lexa hummed, recognizing that Clarke was now awake, and began sucking on her skin rather than just peppering kisses.

"Well sure is a nice way to wake up," Clarke murmured, not wanting to open her eyes. "Why are you awake?"

"It's nine," Lexa replied, sitting up and detaching her lips from Clarke's neck, "I just woke up. Better question is why you weren't already awake."

Blue eyes forced themselves open, and found that the light was actually not as bright as it had seemed, but the window at the end of the hotel room was definitely letting some in. Lexa was straddling her, looking down at her fondly. "I guess I was tired," Clarke mused, smiling up at the brunette. "You just gonna sit there?"

Lexa shook her head, and then she got up off of the blonde. "No, you smell. Take a shower."

Clarke's jaw dropped. "I do not smell!" Pink lips turned up into a small smirk, and Clarke huffed, tossing the blanket off of her body and dragging herself into a sitting position. "Fine, I'll shower." She lowered her feet onto the carpeted floor and then looked over her shoulder at Lexa. The girl was laying along the bed, above the blankets, and her legs were almost entirely exposed due to the short shorts she was wearing. Her gaze danced its way up Lexa's body, to where green eyes were watching her with amusement. "Wanna join?"

Lexa's eyes sparkled, and she sat up. "Um, yes."

"No hesitance there." Clarke chuckled, getting up from the bed and stretching her arms up above her head as Lexa also got up. "I guess I can't blame you. I'm pretty hot."

"And oh so humble," Lexa added sarcastically.

No more than a sixty seconds later, they were both stripped naked, under hot steamy water. The purpose of showering was instantly forgotten as their lips came together desperately and needy. Clarke couldn't help that she was already so aroused after just waking up – it was Lexa's fault anyway, for waking her up by straddling her. Not to mention, Lexa's body was absolutely stunning – how could she not be aroused when seeing her?

Lexa nailed her against the icy cold shower wall, and Clarke let an abrupt moan into the brunette's mouth. When Lexa's lips began to find their way lower onto her neck, Clarke sighed contently at the feeling and murmured, "You really like to be in control during sex, don't you?" Lips stilled against the blonde's neck, before Lexa pulled her head back to look Clarke in the eyes.

"Sometimes," she replied, her fingers tickling teasingly against the sides of Clarke's body. "You got a problem with that?" Her thigh was sliding in between Clarke's, pushing them apart and forcing a whimper out of the blonde.

"No," she answered quietly, and Lexa hummed.

"Good." The hot water was barely touching them where they were against the wall, but Clarke hardly had any time to consider that as Lexa lips returned to her neck and she began to grind her thigh in between Clarke's legs. The blonde got lost in the feeling as she rocked her hips against Lexa's leg, trying for more friction. She felt it when Lexa made a mark on her neck, and the brunette pulled away after she did so and murmured, "Oops." She didn't sound apologetic, though, and Clarke didn't want her to be.

"Lexa," Clarke moaned, wanting for the other girl to touch her finally.

"You want something?" Lexa asked, glancing down at her thigh, which she abruptly stilled. Clarke whimpered, nodding. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want," Clarke growled, impatient.

Lexa's eyes were darkened, but they glistened with the mystery that Clarke always saw in them, what made them so intense and alluring. "Tell me anyway."

"I want you to fuck me, Lexa," Clarke pleaded. Lexa's lips twitched into a small smirk, and she suddenly leaned forward until her lips were right by Clarke's ear.

"How do you want me to fuck you?" She could barely hear the whisper over the roar of the shower. "Tell me exactly what you want me to do." Her voice was low, raspy, and Clarke found herself struggling to even formulate words in her head, let alone speak them aloud. Lexa waited patiently for her to answer, though Clarke wished that she wouldn't, and that she could just fucking touch her already.

"I want you on your knees, and I want you to fuck me with your tongue," Clarke said finally, and Lexa hummed in response, lowering herself down to her knees and dragging her mouth and hands along Clarke's upper body as she did so. When she was finally positioned, her green eyes jumped up to look at the expectant expression across Clarke's face. Finally, she pushed Clarke's legs apart, gentle as ever, and slid her tongue against the wetness waiting for her.

Clarke gasped as soon as she felt it, and all her pent up frustration was released not long after that.

When Clarke had come, they proceeded to shower as normal, at least until they were done showering and turned off the water. After they both dried off, Clarke didn't let Lexa dress – instead, she pulled the brunette out of the bathroom and onto the bed, topping her and taking her to climax within a handful of minutes.

Lexa was breathing heavily as Clarke rolling off of her, laying instead on her side of the bed. "Pretty sure you defeated the purpose of the shower," Lexa murmured through her uneven breathing. Clarke just smiled, unable to take her eyes off of the brunette. When she was calmed, Lexa turned onto her side to look in Clarke's direction as well, curiosity showing in her eyes. "What?"

Clarke smiled softly. "You know, I feel like I know a lot about you, but there are some pretty rudimentary things I don't know."

"Like what?" Lexa asked, smiling with amusement.

"Your last name."

"Woods," Lexa replied. "Yours is Griffin. I heard your friend Octavia say it when you guys were Face Timing."

"Yeah," Clarke confirmed, nodding. "I also don't know how old you are. You know that I'm twenty-three. All I know is that you're older than me. You could be like forty for all I know."

"Do I look like I'm forty?" Lexa asked, laughing incredulously.

"Well, no, but I'm just saying," Clarke insisted, smirking and shaking her head. "So?"

"Twenty-six," Lexa replied, chuckling. "Anything else you desperately need to know?"

Clarke hummed thoughtfully, and then answered, "Nope, I think that's it."

"Then let's get dressed and go get breakfast," Lexa suggested, smiling. "I'm hungry." The blonde groaned, her hand involuntarily moving to rest on Lexa's hip, drawing little shapes with her fingers on the soft skin there.

"Do we have to? We're already naked. We may as well lay in bed all day and just stay naked."

"We have to leave Berlin today, we can't stay in bed," Lexa reminded her lightly, still smiling as Clarke groaned again.

"Fine," she murmured, pulling her hand away from the brunette. "I guess we better get up then."

They actually did get up then. The hotel needed them to check out before noon, but it wasn't even ten yet, so they packed up their stuff after getting ready to go and left it in the room while they went out into the city to find somewhere to have breakfast. As Clarke walked alongside Lexa through the streets, she caught sight of a little coffee shop cafe thing, and they ended up having breakfast there.

By noon, Lexa had checked them out of the hotel and they'd dragged all of their bags onto a bus back to Berlin Central Station. From there, they found the train that would take them to their next destination. At that point, Lexa couldn't hide it anymore, though when Clarke saw the name of the town, it really didn't help her at all. Some place called Oberwesel.

They would have to take three separate trains to get there, apparently the place was really far away, because the total train time was nearly nine hours.

Clarke didn't think that she minded, though. Settling into her seat on the train made her realize that riding on trains was something that just felt normal to her now. It was almost stranger to think that when she went back to DC, she would have to drive around everywhere again. She didn't really mind driving, but trains were just so much easier.

Longer, though, because the path that the three trains were taking would take about three hours longer than driving across the country straight from Berlin to Oberwesel. They could have departed at a different time, and followed a similar route as a car would, but when they got the tickets, the cheapest and least stressful were the ones for the long way around. And Clarke could see why Lexa wouldn't want to simply rent a car and drive all that way, though, because while they were in the train, they could talk without one of them having their focus on the road.

And talk they did. They talked about any and everything really, like they usually did. Somehow, it was the same as always, but it felt different somehow. Maybe it was just Clarke, though, because her eyes lingered on Lexa's for longer than normal, and she found herself absorbed in everything she said. She actually talked less than normal, unopposed to just listening to Lexa talk. Whether or not the brunette noticed, she didn't mention it.

They didn't talk through the whole trip, though. By the time they were on the second train – the one witch the longest travel time – they were both already ready to arrive at their destination. Lexa retrieved her computer and started organizing her photos from Berlin, and Clarke got up to head to the adjacent train car, where there was supposed to be food.

She returned with enough snacks for the whole ride, and tossed a bag of chips to Lexa, who flashed her a grateful smile. Nestling herself in her seat, Clarke took out her sketchbook to sketch Lexa. She didn't even lie to herself and pretend that she wanted to draw anything else. She immediately began drawing the girl's face. It was a similar picture to her last one, since it was in the same situation that she was using the brunette has her reference, but she tried to perfect it as much as possible. Every time she messed something up, her gaze would flicker upward, study Lexa's face, and start again.

When Lexa was done with her pictures, she looked up and laughed almost instantly. "Are you drawing me again?"

"Payback for all the times you photograph me," Clarke justified, grinning. "This one is better than before." She turned the drawing around to show Lexa. "I've never really done people before. I usually draw landscapes."

"I think it looks amazing," Lexa stated, smiling in return as her eyes looked over the picture. Clarke turned her sketchbook back to herself and flipped to the next page, as Lexa yawned a little and stretched her arms. "Is it time to switch trains yet?"

"We've only been on this one for a little over an hour, Lexa," Clarke reminded her unnecessarily; she knew that Lexa knew how long it had been. "So no."

"I'm going to nap then," Lexa murmured, curling up in the seat.

Clarke smirked. "You're not going to be able to sleep tonight."

"I can think of reasons that that isn't a bad thing," Lexa commented, smiling suggestively at the blonde, who blushed and laughed, a sound that was almost like a giggle.

"Go to sleep," she said playfully, and Lexa's smile softened as she let her eyelids flutter down over her beautiful green eyes.

Clarke took advantage of her combined boredom and Lexa's tiredness, and began sketching the girl's sleeping form. She spent nearly an hour on it, her attention not wavering in the slightest. It was easy to lose herself in it – Lexa was picture perfect, and Clarke was determined to capture her beauty perfectly.

The blonde knew that the trip had become about Lexa more so than traveling, by now. She loved experiencing the different cultures and seeing the different cities and countries. But that wasn't why she was here. Maybe it never was really why. Maybe when Lexa had looked at her with that fierce gaze on the morning of her third full day in Europe, and suggested that Clarke come with her to Paris, she'd only gone for Lexa. She had forgotten to buy her souvenirs from Belgium, The Netherlands, and then Germany. Though she was slightly bummed about it, it was clear to her that forgetting them was an indication that she cared less about remembering the city through a memento – she would remember it with her actual mind anyway.

No, this was about Lexa. She could spend hours watching Lexa stare at the beauty of the different cities, and taking photos with her adorable scrunched up face. She could sit and sip wine or cocktails and talk to Lexa about anything. She could doodle her face or sketch her sleeping form. She could lay next to her in bed, top her in bed, be topped by her in bed. She could joke with her and tease her. She could threaten to delete pictures of herself from Lexa's camera, even though she would never go through with it. She could do it all.

She wasn't sure that she would be able to leave her.

When she thought about it, her heart clenched. She wasn't in love with Lexa, that would be far too fast. Clarke had never been one to fall quickly, though she had never been this abruptly infatuated by someone ever in her past. The feelings she'd had for Finn in the start of their relationship – Clarke's longest ever relationship – were not nearly as strong as the ones she held for Lexa.

The brunette was an anomaly. She filled Clarke with excitement, determination, bravery, energy. She could ignite her body with just a look. She could bring a smile to her face by just looking at her. Green eyes could capture her without even trying. Clarke had never felt so affected by a person. She couldn't imagine it going away – what would happen to her?

Raven was right, she knew. She couldn't go back to DC without having an official, declared connection with Lexa. If she didn't have it, she might fall apart again. That wasn't fair to Lexa, of course, so Clarke would make no mention of it. It wouldn't matter, though, she hoped, because she was betting on the fact that Lexa would want to be in a relationship with her as much as Clarke did.

Blue eyes blinked, and the owner of them realized that she'd been staring at Lexa for possibly up to ten minutes, just pondering everything. Her pencil had stilled, and she gently lifted it off of the paper and slid it into her bag. She closed the sketchbook and put it away as well.

She wasn't tired, so she took out her phone and immediately found herself disappointed to see that internet connection was weak, even if she should have it through the train. Sighing slightly and wishing that Lexa was awake, even though she wanted her companion to get the sleep she needed, Clarke opted for one of the old app games that she had on her phone. She really had no other choice anyway.

It was hours before the train began to come to the stop at the place they needed to get off. Clarke had been trying to entertain herself on her phone, and had been lucky whenever her internet magically was restored as they got closer to their stop. She was able to at least stalk her friends on social media.

By then, it was a little past eight in the evening, and Clarke gently drew Lexa out of her sleep by murmuring soft words. They had another hour or so on another train to actually get into Oberwesel, and then they would have to walk to where they were staying. Lexa had already explained to Clarke that the town was very small, and that the walk would be no more than twenty minutes. Clarke hardly minded, though. Even if she would be tired by the time they got there.

When they did, Clarke realized that she had actually not expected the town to be so small. It was nestled against the Rhine River so perfectly, and one could easily walk from one end to another.

The only downside about walking to where they were staying was that they had their bags, and they had to go uphill. The upside? They were staying in a literal castle.

Lexa admitted that she hadn't stayed there when she initially visited – she'd stayed at that little hotel in the middle of the town. But she had apparently seen it while she was there the first time, and had vowed to stay there next time. It was a castle literally remodeled slightly into a hotel. Once they reached it, and got their key to their room, Clarke found herself in awe. The room was regal looking, with deep red carpeted floors and a fancy bed with pillow chocolates set on either side of it. There was a window against the wall that overlooked a dark garden – Clarke could tell that it was pretty big, but she couldn't see much of it through the darkness.

"This place is so cool," Clarke gasped, as Lexa set her suitcase down and began to open it, looking for a change of clothes probably.

"I saw lots of pictures online," Lexa admitted, "and I really wanted to stay here. We'll have to look at the garden at some point, it's awesome."

Clarke let out a long breath. "It's like... a real castle." Lexa laughed lightly, drawing the blonde's gaze away from the glamour of the room. "You can take the bathroom first, I have to call Raven."

"You sure? I'm' probably not going to bed for a little while. I slept for like five hours," Lexa said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, go ahead," Clarke insisted, as she shed her shoes and picked a side of the bed, grabbing the little chocolate off of the pillow and unwrapping it with her right hand as her left hand scrolled through her contacts in her phone to find her best friend. She popped the chocolate into her mouth and held the phone to her ear as it rang.

"Sup, bestie!" Raven exclaimed, sounding like she was having a much better day than the previous one. "Seems like we have a routine now. I just got out of work."

"It's coincidence that I keep getting to hotels around this time," Clarke countered, chuckling lightly.

"You eating something?"

"Chocolate," the blonde answered, "we just got to the next hotel we're staying at. There were pillow chocolates. I may not be able to resist eating Lexa's. It's good. It doesn't help that I haven't had a real meal since breakfast."

"What have you been doing all day?" Raven demanded. "You need to eat."

"Don't worry, I ate," Clarke insisted, waving her hand. "I had snacks on the train. We were on the train for like eight or nine hours, that's what I've been doing all day. We're in this little town called Oberwesel now. We are staying in a fucking castle. Like a literal castle that has been remodeled into a hotel."

"And the price of this fancy room is...?"

Clarke huffed. "I don't know."

"So Miss Beautiful Photographer is still paying for your shit?"

"Yes. But this room was booked for her whether or not I was going to come with her," Clarke insisted, shaking her head. "You gotta let that go, Rae."

"Okay, fine," Raven agreed. "Well, I had a great day. I got to actually do the main part of my job instead of helping that asshole guy. Apparently there is a sliver of competence inside his strange mind."

Her conversation with Raven didn't last as long as the previous night, because Clarke felt herself becoming more and more tired. She hadn't slept for hours like Lexa had, and by the time the brunette came out of the bathroom, Clarke said goodbye to her best friend and quickly got ready for bed. She fell asleep in the super comfy bed in the regal room inside the fucking castle, while Lexa read something on her phone next to her.

She fell asleep almost instantly, too, possibly because Lexa's free hand began to play with her hair, and Clarke couldn't stop smiling even as her consciousness slipped into rest.


	17. Chapter 17

Clarke felt herself waking up before she opened her eyes, and she purposefully kept them closed as she came to. Immediately, though, she noticed the lack of a certain presence next to her, and she extended her arm to feel over the spot where Lexa should've been laying. Frowning and her forehead creasing, she forced her eyes open and glanced around the empty room. "Lexa?"

"I'm in here," Lexa called from the bathroom, and Clarke relaxed, hardly even aware that she had been tense without Lexa beside her. She pulled the soft blankets up over herself, feeling a bit chilly in the room. The brunette emerged from the bathroom a minute later, and soft smile on her face. "I got up pretty early. Couldn't sleep."

"You slept too much yesterday," Clarke justified unnecessarily, and Lexa nodded, lowering herself onto the bed next to Clarke again. Immediately, the blonde felt warmth spread through her body at the proximity, eliminating the chill she'd felt a moment before. "What are we doing today? Pictures?"

The photographer nodded again. "Yeah, mostly pictures today. Around town and by the river. I'll be done before it's too late, though. We can have dinner here at the hotel tonight. It's supposed to be really good."

"Mkay," Clarke murmured, still feeling very sleepy. She buried her face into her pillow. "I'm still tired."

"It's still pretty early," Lexa admitted. "You can sleep more, I'll come back up here for lunch if you want. As long as you're not gonna starve. I think there are snacks still from the train yesterday."

"Okay," Clarke replied, even though she didn't know exactly what she would do without Lexa there, she was definitely too tired to walk back down to town and then back up to the hotel. Lexa leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Clarke's cheek, making the blonde smile a little up at her before she grabbed her purse with her camera and left the room.

Clarke squeezed in a few more hours of sleep, and at eleven in the morning, she finally dragged herself up and out of bed. It was weird being in the hotel room without Lexa, especially since she wasn't the one paying for it. After showering and preparing for the day, though, she figured she would only have to wait about half an hour or so before Lexa came back to the hotel room.

As she sat on the end of the huge bed, her phone suddenly went off. No longer afraid of looking at her phone, at least since Amsterdam, she let her gaze drop to the device.

 **From Mom – Good morning! I'm up early for work, just wanted to check in that you're doing okay. I know you said you're fine, and you're an adult, so I don't want to be pushy. But you can't blame me for checking in.**

Clarke found herself smiling a little bit. After her while, her mom was always able to understand her. It was one of the things that she valued about her mom. They'd broken out into more than one argument, especially since her dad had died when she was in her junior year of high school. But things had always been able to settle between them. It was why her childhood home still had so much meaning to her – at least, it was the reason that that meaning hadn't disappeared. It was why her mom would've been the only one to be able to convince her to come home, if she had answered her phone calls too early on. She was really lucky to have a mom like hers.

 **To Mom – Morning! I'm good! Lexa and I are in a town in Germany called Oberwesel. She's taking pictures right now, we're going out to lunch soon. I hope you have a good day at work! Love you!**

Setting her phone down, she got up and went to the window of the room. It looked out at the garden, which had been dark the previous night, but she saw now how pretty it was. It looked almost fantasy-like, something you would see out a movie. There was a large chess board thing on the ground in one area, it seemed, with large plastic chess pieces on top. She couldn't see the whole thing, but it was pretty cool, she had to admit.

Her stomach growled hungrily, drawing a frown to her face, but then she heard the door opening behind her.

"Hey!" Lexa called, and the blonde turned around with a smile on her face.

"Hey," she replied.

"How was your morning?"

"Slept through most of it," Clarke admitted, and Lexa chuckled lightly before the blonde continued, "but I'm really glad I did. I definitely feel much more awake now."

"So you can walk down to the town now? It's really nice out," Lexa said with a hopeful smile.

"You just walked all the way back up and now you wanna go back down?" Clarke teased, though she was grabbing her phone off of her bed and shoving it in her pocket already.

Lexa smirked. "Well, don't you want food?"

"Doesn't this place serve lunch?" Clarke asked, causing Lexa to roll her eyes incredulously.

"Come on," the brunette said, feigning exasperation as she grabbed Clarke's hand. The blonde grinned cheekily at her companion as they left the hotel and started making their way down to town. The walk downhill wasn't as bad, and it only took about fifteen minute for them to get down to the little town. When they reached it, Clarke found herself slightly surprised by how small and quaint it was even during the day. It was easy to see it at night, but during the day, there were some cars driving around and people up and about, but it was small. Nice. "I saw a little pizza place, if you feel like more 'normal' food."

Clarke shrugged. "Whatever," she replied, smiling at the brunette, "doesn't matter to me."

Lexa blushed a little. "I'm kinda craving pizza."

"Then let's get pizza," Clarke agreed, rolling her eyes as Lexa's face lit up a little bit. She really was adorable. They walked through a little bit of the town and it didn't take them long to get to the pizza place that Lexa had apparently seen earlier. It was a pretty nice place, and once they were seated, almost experts at communicating to people through hand gestures and simple words by now, Clarke realized that it had been weeks since she'd last had pizza.

She wasn't really one to be obsessed with pizza or anything, it was just something that you had to have every once in a while. She thought that it might've made sense that she would've eaten pizza during her wallowing, but she was pretty sure that she'd stuck mostly to Chinese takeout. That was honestly mostly just a blur.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Clarke asked curiously, looking expectantly to the brunette.

"There's a little town, which is about a twelve minute bus ride to the north, called Sankt Goar. It's basically a town like this. I have to take some pictures there, and they have some cool shops and things, so I think you'll like it," Lexa said, smiling softly. Clarke was almost tempted to admit that she would like wherever they went as long as she was with Lexa, but it felt far too sappy, so she didn't voice it. Though, she was sure that it was true.

"Sounds fun," she offered up instead. It wasn't long after that that they got their pizza, and both Clarke and Lexa were thoroughly satisfied by it. They spent lunch talking, and when they were done and the time was nearing one in the afternoon, Clarke realized just how much of the day she'd missed. She'd become used to waking up early, or at least at a somewhat normal time, and starting the day off right away. Sleeping in felt weird now.

They walked near the river, looking out at the slightly murky water. It was a pretty view, though, and some people passed by on boats. They also saw the little town wall that was still standing, on which they could walk. Clarke thought that it almost felt like going back in time when they were on it. There was just something completely peaceful about all of it.

Even when it became later in the afternoon, and they had to walk back up the incline to the hotel, Clarke hardly found herself minding. Lexa was holding her hand, and it was nice out, and she really couldn't complain.

They weren't ready for dinner, however, because it was still early. So instead, they didn't go into the castle and instead made their way into the garden. Despite the fact that it was kind of chilly, it was a beautiful area, and both girls found themselves entranced by how serene it felt. Near the chess board that Clarke had seen through the window, there was a little tree house thing that she couldn't help but peak into.

"This place is awesome," Clarke declared to the brunette.

"You can see why when I heard about it, I'd wished that I'd stayed here," Lexa said. "Not sure how I didn't see it the first time around."

"Mm," Clarke hummed, glancing around at the green around them. "I can't believe you came here by yourself. I'd feel lonely. It's just so quiet."

"Maybe that's why I didn't feel lonely," Lexa commented. "It's a lonely place. It feels like the perfect place to be alone."

"Or not," Clarke offered, glancing at the brunette.

"It's definitely not bad for not being alone, true," was the reply, and Clarke smiled contently.

They ended up back upstairs at around five in the early evening, after sitting on a bench in the garden and just relaxing. Clarke hadn't had her sketchbook with her, so she'd just opened social media on her phone and leaned into Lexa. The brunette had been doing something similar. Leave it to them to corrupt the beautiful nature around them with technology.

Clarke knew that she could hardly help it, though, so she didn't feel too bad.

Once back in their room inside the amazing castle, Clarke washed up a bit and then released the bathroom to Lexa. After being outside, they both wanted to freshen up before dinner. While Lexa showered, Clarke doodled in her sketchbook. It was a quiet day, that was for sure, and the blonde couldn't tell if it was just because of their surroundings, or if it was something between the two of them.

She hoped it wasn't the latter, because the only thing that she could think that would cause any sort of tension in between them was the fact that their journey may be coming to a close. And Clarke didn't want to think about that, and she knew that Lexa didn't either. It made her wonder just how close the end was.

It had to be close, Clarke wasn't naive enough to think otherwise. She just hoped that either Lexa would bring up the end of it, or Clarke would find courage to bring it up herself. The end was inevitable, and the blonde would not accept losing Lexa because of that. She had to force herself to mention it.

She knew that, but she also knew that Oberwesel wasn't their last destination. She was sure that Lexa would've mentioned it by now if it was. She would bring up the topic on their way to the next city, she decided. Once she made the decision, she felt much calmer, and waited patiently for Lexa to be ready for dinner. Her thoughts kept wandering back to the same thing, but she pushed it away. Her decision had been made, and she couldn't handle thinking about it for much longer.

As she waited, a new text from her mom popped up onto her phone.

 **From Mom – Hope you've had a good day! I finally got enough of a break to text you back. The hospital is crazy busy these days. I miss you, honey! Do you know when you'll be back? Just curious.**

Of course, her mom had to bring up the thing that Clarke didn't want to think about.

 **To Mom – Still not sure. But I talked to my boss, and we made a deal. I've gotta be back by the Monday after next. So definitely before then. I miss you too, mom.**

 **From Mom – Well, have a good night! I have to head back to work. Gotta go into surgery in half an hour and need to scrub in. Love you!**

Clarke didn't reply the message, only putting her phone back in the pocket of her jeans as Lexa came out of the bathroom, showered and changed. They were both wearing something a bit nicer than normal, because the restaurant seemed somewhat formal – which wasn't too surprising since they were in a literal castle. Clarke still couldn't get over that.

The restaurant wasn't hard to find, but Clarke still had to follow Lexa to get to it. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to find her way back to the room without her either.

The dinner provided by the hotel was absolutely amazing – Clarke was sure that she was moaning while she was eating, which would also explain the amused looks that Lexa kept tossing at her. The blonde was officially in love with German food, and she said so to Lexa, who admitted that it was one of her favorites. Lexa still seemed somewhat quiet throughout dinner, and Clarke tried not to let it bother her.

However, she couldn't help that it did bother her, and after getting to know Lexa for nearly two weeks now, she wasn't able to hold in the question. "Hey, is something bothering you today? You just seem a little more quiet than normal."

Lexa flushed. "No, not really. Just... it's been about exactly five years since that girl, the one I was dating before I went to Europe at first, cheated on me. Her name's Costia. My best friend Anya texted me and told me that Costia texted her yesterday asking where I'd been recently. She and I never really talk, so it's just weird for her to wonder about what I'm doing. It just kind of threw me off today."

"Ah," Clarke said, not sure what she should say. After a beat, though, she said, "Well, I get it. If Finn ever starts talking to me again, I'll probably be more than a little thrown off. I'd also probably get Raven to punch him or something, but... yeah."

Lexa laughed lightly, before her lips settled into a fond smile. "I never really find myself angry at Costia anymore. But I do tend to avoid her. It's just ever since I broke up with her... she's never really apologized. She knows that I know that she cheated on me, but the loads of excuses she gave me never formed up to a real apology. I'm not heartless or without forgiveness, but it just hurt, you know? So I try not to have to talk to her. It just makes me uncomfortable."

"That's fair," Clarke insisted. "It's not fair to you for her to get to talk to you whenever she feels like when she hasn't even apologized for hurting you."

"Mmhmm," Lexa hummed, her gaze dropping for just a moment to Clarke's lips. The blonde noticed, and she couldn't help the slight smirk that replaced her smile. Lexa blushed, realizing that she'd been caught, but said nothing about it. "I don't want this to end."

The sudden admission surprised Clarke, and she blinked as if trying to figure out what the brunette meant. It wasn't hard to figure out, though. "Neither do I," Clarke murmured softly.

"What... what do you want to do when it does?" Lexa asked, and for perhaps the first time ever, Clarke saw Lexa nervous. It made Clarke fill with determination, though, and confidence. If Lexa was as nervous to bring up the topic as she was, that meant that it was important to both of them whatever decision they came up with.

"Well..." Clarke swallowed thickly, forcing herself to not drop her gaze. "We don't live too far away from one another..."

Lexa smiled softly. "True."

"I just... don't think that I would be able to go back and not at least keep in touch with you," Clarke said quietly. "At least." She added the emphasis the second time in case it wasn't obvious that she wanted to more than keep in touch with the brunette.

"I agree."

"So...?"

Green eyes dropped onto the table, like they were searching for words to say. Clarke waited patiently, and then the brunette finally said, "Maybe it would help if we established what exactly it is that we're doing right now."

Clarke bit the inside of her lip. "Okay." There was a pause, and then Lexa laughed, causing Clarke's heart to jump.

"You know you have to actually contribute to the discussion," she teased lightly.

A blush rose to Clarke's cheeks, but she forced herself to face her nerves head on and stated, "I like you Lexa... a lot. And I feel like we've gotten to know each other a lot in the past two weeks and I've just never really felt this connected to someone."

Lexa bit down on her bottom lip, holding back a smile that was clearly trying to interrupt the serious discussion. "Same."

"Lexa, you know you have to actually contribute to the discussion," Clarke teased, a grin spreading across her own face as Lexa flushed. "I'm pretty sure that same is not a valid conversation additive."

Green eyes rolled playfully. "Fine. So. Do you want this to be for real then?"

"That might be the vaguest way in which anyone has ever asked me to be their girlfriend," Clarke joked, biting on her bottom lip and not so subtly glancing down at Lexa's. The girl was practically beaming at this point.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, though. "Well?"

"So demanding," Clarke teased, leaning forward across the table and placing a quick kiss on her new girlfriend's waiting lips.

When they finished dinner, they made their way back up to the hotel room, and Clarke slipped into the bathroom. She wasn't particularly tired, so she wasn't planning on going to bed once she was done, but she was not expecting what happened when she left the bathroom.

As in, she was not expecting Lexa's lips to immediately slam into hers and then for the half naked brunette pushing her toward and onto the bed mercilessly.

Not that she was complaining.

She was definitely not complaining.

A moan ripped from Clarke's throat as Lexa's thigh pressed in between her own and she bit down on Clarke's lower lip. Lexa began tugging at the blonde's shirt aggressively, and Clarke quickly helped tear it from her body. Her bra was gone in a matter of seconds as well at that point, and her body was ready for Lexa to just touch her.

She didn't though, no, the brunette was more inclined to take her time and tease the blonde. Clarke was impatient, especially as Lexa's lips fell to her breasts and began drawing many moans from her girlfriend, who was unable to control how needy she had just become. It didn't help that Lexa's hands were teasing her and beginning to pull her pants off of her.

Clarke's pants were disposed of, tossed aside along with her underwear, not too much later. Lexa's body was flush against Clarke's – she was only wearing a bra and underwear – and Clarke desperately needed her even closer. She whimpered as Lexa's lips were teasing her neck and her hand finally slipped in between Clarke's thighs.

As soon as Clarke felt any relief, it immediately became not enough and she began to rock into Lexa's fingers.

She was perhaps halfway to climax when her phone started ringing from the floor next to the bed. Lexa's finger's stopped abruptly, and Clarke knew that the call was from Raven, but she couldn't care less at this point. "Don't you dare stop," she panted desperately. "Raven can fucking wait."

So Lexa dutifully began her motions again, and soon, but not soon enough, Clarke finally felt full relief. "Fuck, Lexa," she groaned as the brunette settled next to her, laying on her side and facing Clarke, who was on her back still, face up. "I was not expecting that."

"You came here for spontaneity, didn't you?" Lexa teased.

Clarke bit down on her lower lip, turning her head and looking at Lexa's intense green eyes. "I went to London for spontaneity. Everywhere else, I went for you."

"Oh really?" Lexa asked, blushing as though she hadn't expected that answer.

Clarke rolled her eyes, and then her body, as she suddenly pushed Lexa onto her back, effectively topping her. "Mmhmm." Lexa watched the blonde with darkened eyes, as Clarke trailed her hands along her midsection and sliding under her back to unhook her bra clasp. "I mean, sort of for me. But for you. Because of you."

"Was it worth it?"

"Are you really asking me that?" Clarke demanded, raising an eyebrow, and Lexa blushed, shaking her head.

"No."

Clarke laughed, gently removing the bra from her girlfriend's body. "Good, because I think we have other things to get to."


	18. Chapter 18

The noise blaring through the room was so annoyingly persistent that it managed to somehow pull Clarke from her deep sleep. The first thing she noticed, though, was that Lexa was definitely not shaken at all by the noise. Clarke couldn't help but wonder what could possibly keep that girl from sleeping so fucking much.

The blonde smiled a little, but then she became once again aware of the piercing noise of her phone ringing. She dragged herself out of the bed, her naked body shivering in the cool room. Her phone was sitting on the floor, next to her discarded pants, and she grabbed it. She had about six missed calls from Raven by now.

She quickly hit answer, and as she pulled the phone up to her ear, she was immediately greeted by an angry best friend. "Clarke! What happened to our deal? I thought you died or some shit!"

"What?" Clarke grumbled, hardly awake as she stumbled a little, leaning her bare backside against the nearest wall.

"You didn't call me, C!"

Clarke ran her hand over her face and through her hair, trying to wake herself up a bit. "I'm sorry, Rae. I was busy."

"You haven't been busy any other day. We had like a routine. I thought you were just late, so I waited an hour or so, but nothing," Raven muttered, dejected.

"I'm sorry, babe," Clarke murmured. "I fell asleep."

"Like hell you did," Raven said, sounding far less angry all of the sudden. "You and Lexa were totally doing the dirty all night. That's why you sound exhausted as fuck."

"Or maybe that's because it's like one in the morning," Clarke suggested, leaning her head against the wall behind her. At this point, it was the only thing keeping her from falling onto the ground and sleeping involuntarily. Maybe she was a little tired because of sex with Lexa, but it was just a combination of lack of sleep, that and also walking around Oberwesel the whole day. "I'm tired, Raven."

"Because Lexa fucked you."

"Partially," Clarke muttered, giving up. "Please tell me that you had something you wanted to tell me and that you didn't just wake me up to be mad at me."

"Clarke! I thought you might've died!"

"For future reference," Clarke said, sighing, "if I don't answer after twelve hours, then you can assume I'm dead."

"So you're saying that I should've assumed you were dead after you left for London."

"Doesn't count, Rae."

"Fine," Raven agreed. "The sex better have been good."

Clarke smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Bleh, of course not," Raven said, pretending to gag. Clarke laughed lightly, and then the brunette hummed thoughtfully. "On second thought... Lexa is kinda hot."

"She is," Clarke agreed, "but you better keep your eyes elsewhere, Reyes. That girl is mine."

"Oh really?" Raven asked, sounding intrigued. "You became girlfriends sometime during your sex frenzy?" She asked the question like she thought that Clarke would deny it immediately.

"Actually, that happened about half an hour or so before the sex frenzy," Clarke replied, stretching her free arm in front of her.

"Wait, for real? You asked her?"

"She asked me," Clarke corrected. "Well, it was sort of like... a mutual discussion, but she technically asked."

"So... you guys are official? I won't have to take care of breakdown-Clarke when you get back?"

"Hopefully not," Clarke replied, laughing lightly. "I think we'll work." There was a pause, and when her best friend didn't seem to be about to say anything else, she continued, "Well, how was your day? You have me for like ten minutes tops. I'm fucking tired."

"Lame," Raven replied, huffing. "O spent all day when she wasn't working with Lincoln. I swear, those two will be married within months. I keep pestering Octavia about it and she's claiming that they're making up for lost time. Which, I mean, makes sense, considering how long they spent fawning over each other and not actually doing jack shit about it."

"Let them be all lovey dovey," Clarke said, laughing lightly. "O deserves it for once. You have to admit that it was sad watching them want each other so bad and not know how to just go for it."

"No, I know," Raven said, sighing. "I just had a pretty lonely day. I can't wait until you're back. At least then I can go to the bar and hang there without feeling like a loser who goes to the bar before five every day."

"You're that loser whether I'm there or not, Rae," Clarke insisted. Lexa stirred suddenly on the bed, and Clarke mentally scolded herself and made sure to think to talk quieter. Though, the brunette really shouldn't wake up from her talking, considering how long she'd slept through Clarke's phone ringing already.

"At least when you're there, I have someone to talk to," Raven insisted. "And you don't think I'm a loser. You love me."

"Maybe," Clarke agreed softly.

Suddenly, from the bed, came a muffled, "Clarke?"

"Hey, Rae, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow. Night."

"Goodnight, C," Raven returned. "I won't hesitate to wake you up again at one in the morning if you forget to call me."

"I'm sure you won't," Clarke replied, before hanging up and tossing her phone down onto the ground again. She hardly cared about plugging it in – so far it had just annoyed her. Not that talking to Raven annoyed her, of course, but if her phone could've woken her up without being so intolerable... that would've been preferable.

"Clarke?" Lexa asked, sitting up now as Clarke came back to the bed.

"Raven called me. Did me talking wake you up?" Clarke asked, frowning as she slid under the blankets next to the brunette. Lexa relaxed into her pillow again and shook her head.

"Not the noise," Lexa murmured in reply. "Just you not being here. I'm too used to it. I shouldn't be."

Clarke said nothing in reply, instead just stretching her legs down and entangling them with Lexa's. "Go to sleep, babe, you're tired."

"Mkay," Lexa muttered, her green eyes flickering closed again.

Clarke couldn't sleep, though, not for another few minutes. She had hardly realized that she'd called Lexa babe – it had just come naturally. She had rarely ever called anyone babe, and usually Raven was the only recipient of it. Ever since they'd gone to prom together in high school – each without dates of their own – and jokingly called each other babe all night.

Even Finn had rarely earned any sort of endearment like that from her in their couple years of dating.

The blonde smiled to herself – Lexa was special, and even her subconscious knew that to be true. Settling herself next to her girlfriend under the blankets, she fell back asleep.

* * *

"I'm tired," Clarke whined, digging around her suitcase as Lexa sat up on the bed, stretching. The blonde had already taken her shower, but she'd forgotten to get clothes and at this point, she hadn't bothered wrapping a towel around herself. She'd already done her makeup and her hair, and now she just needed to pick clothes to wear.

"Why are you naked?" Lexa mumbled, very sleepy sounding. Neither of them were ready to do anything.

"I need to pick clothes. I wish I'd brought more."

"Clothes are just clothes," Lexa said, sliding her legs out from under the blankets on the bed and standing.

"Maybe to you – you'd probably look good in anything."

"So would you," Lexa said, rolling her eyes and making her way past the blonde and to the bathroom. "Well," she started again once she was in the little room, "there's this really good place to get coffee in Sankt Goar. I think we could both use one."

"At least you weren't woken up at one in the morning," Clarke muttered.

"I woke up."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to get up. I almost like collapsed onto the floor," the blonde insisted.

"It's carpet."

Clarke rolled her eyes, smiling at the girl's comment anyway. She couldn't see her, of course, since she was in the bathroom. She just couldn't fight the smile that wanted to appear. "Wow, thanks for the sympathy."

"You're welcome," Lexa chimed back, clearly amused.

Clarke finally found clothes to wear, and she hastily threw them on and then collapsed onto the soft bed. "How far away is the coffee?"

"It's like a ten minute bus ride," Lexa assured her. "Not long. There are some really cute little shops there, too. The town is bigger than Oberwesel, but it's still pretty quaint looking."

"Good coffee?"

Lexa laughed lightly from where she was in the bathroom before answering, "Yes, it's good coffee. Are you seriously that tired?"

"I think shortened sleep hours is finally catching up to me," Clarke groaned in response, splaying her hands across her face. "I feel like I could sleep for a whole day."

"You have not been losing that much sleep." Lexa was coming out of the bathroom now, and Clarke peeked out from in between her fingers to see the brunette still naked from waking up. She made her way to her own suitcase to grab something wear.

"Well, compared to the two weeks that I spent not doing much more than sleeping..."

Lexa glanced over at the blonde, who finally dropped her hands and sighed. "Fair enough," Lexa commented, "but I've lost just as much sleep as you have, and you don't hear me complaining."

"You slept for like six hours to catch up on sleep when we were on the super long train ride," Clarke reminded the brunette, furrowing her eyebrows in an attempted scowl that was directed to her. A smile tugged as Lexa's lips, and Clarke gave up trying to glare. "Ugh, whatever. Hurry up and put clothes on. I need coffee."

"Why did Raven call you at one in the morning?" Lexa asked curiously, sliding on some underwear and clipping on a bra before finally covering her gorgeous body with clothes. Clarke found herself only mildly disappointed that she was now conversing with a clothed version of her girlfriend, mostly because she really wanted to leave and go get coffee.

"She was pissed that I didn't call her or answer her calls when I normally do," Clarke replied, shrugging. "I mean, I did promise her I'd call her every day. She claimed to have thought that I died."

"You two aren't used to being apart, are you?" Lexa asked unnecessarily. It was obvious, Clarke thought.

"No," she answered. "It's weird for me, but it's worse for her I think. She always acts all confident and brave all the time... but she's like a little ball of insecurities most of the time. Her family life wasn't ever very stable. I've been the only constant in her life since like... middle school or so. She's kind of formed a dependency. It never bothers me, though. It's just hard while I'm away."

"I can understand that," Lexa commented, nodding.

"She gets why I'm gone, though. Which is good," Clarke said, grabbing her messenger bag from where it was resting on the floor and unplugging her phone – which had been plugged in ever since she had woken up for the second time. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Yep," Lexa replied, smiling brightly. Clarke returned the expression, despite how tired and grumpy she was. Her bad mood dissipated even more when Lexa held her hand as they made their way out of the castle, down to the town, and to the train station, where there were also buses making stops every now and then. Clarke wasn't sure if Lexa had intentionally gotten them there by the time that she did – which was around nine-thirty – but they ended up making a bus at the perfect time.

After the twenty or so minutes of walking – which Lexa had conveniently not mentioned when noting how long it would take to get to Sankt Goar, even though Clarke should've inferred it – the bus ride was pretty short. And soon, they were clambering out of it and out onto the sidewalk of the town they were now in. There were more people around – it was definitely busier than Oberwesel. But it was still pretty quiet and old and nice. Clarke liked it.

She liked it even more when Lexa brought her to a little cafe place that had the best macchiatos ever. Clarke wasn't always very big on coffee, and it was something that she had never let herself rely on to wake up in the morning. However, the coffee at this cafe was to die for, and as she and Lexa sat outside in front of the little building, in the cool air sipping hot drinks, she was definitely glad to have made the little trip over to this place. Even if the "ten minute bus ride" was part of about forty minutes of commuting.

"This is so good," Clarke all but moaned, causing Lexa to smirk a little bit.

"I told you."

"I feel like everywhere you go to get coffee in DC is the same... typical Star Bucks stuff. Never something this good."

Lexa nodded in agreement, taking another sip of her drink and then saying, "It's the same way in New York. At least, everywhere I've gone. I've never been able to find a place that had coffee better than this place. They had some good sandwiches too. We should probably get some. Food's kind of important."

"Kind of," Clarke echoed, smiling a little. "Don't you have to take pictures or something?"

"Not so many that I can't get a sandwich. I'll go inside and get us each one." She left her coffee on the little table and got up, disappearing into the cafe. Clarke relaxed back into her chair and looked up at the sky. She thought about Raven, and for the first time, felt a slight spark of something like regret. She'd left Raven alone. Raven would never leave her alone.

She swallowed down the guilt she suddenly felt and took in a deep breath. It was about four in the morning in DC, on a Friday, so Clarke knew that neither of her friends would be awake. Nevertheless, she found herself procuring her phone from her bag and drafting a text message to Octavia.

 **To Octapussy – Hey, I feel bad that I have been calling Raven and not talking as much to you. I hear you and Lincoln are working out well – I'm glad, because you two were so fucking obvious about wanting each other. Seriously. If you wanna gush about him without Raven being all pessimistic, lemme know and I'll call you tonight. Sorry about that, by the way. I mean – if Rae's been kind of down about your relationship. It's probably my fault for leaving. I'm starting to think that it may have hurt Raven more than she's letting on.**

She read the text a few times over to make sure that it was okay, and then hit send. Just as she did, Lexa came back out of the cafe with two plates, each with a sandwich on it. She set one in front of Clarke and then took a seat across from here. "Thank you, "Clarke said, smiling softly.

"Are you okay?" Lexa asked, seeming to sense Clarke's slight mood shift.

"I wondering about Raven," she replied, shaking her head. "It's fine, though. I'll talk to her tonight, so there's no point in stressing about it. I just think that she might be mad at me still, even if she's pretending not to be."

Lexa frowned. "Well, you guys have been friends for a long time. I'm sure that even if she is, you guys will work through it."

Clarke felt a smile replace her dull expression. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks." She grabbed her sandwich and took a bite of it, nearly moaning again. "Shit, this is good."

"Do you always talk with your mouth full?" Lexa teased, raising an eyebrow at the blonde. Blue eyes just rolled in response, because Clarke was far too busy devouring the delicious sandwich to actually respond.

After their breakfast, they split up for most of the middle of the day. It felt weird, being away from Lexa. It hadn't felt too weird when they were in Paris, but that had been different. That had been before Lexa had kissed her, and before she'd gotten so used to being with Lexa.

But the brunette had to take pictures, and Clarke would've been lying if she'd said no when Lexa asked her if she wanted to look through the shops. There really were some cute shops near the cafe where they ate, too. There was a clock shop – which seemed relatively popular. The sign over its door was a huge clock and definitely could draw attention.

Aside from that, though, there were dozens of places to buy little souvenirs or even just random trinkets to take home. There were toy shops filled with little German toys, which Clarke looked at and found pretty interesting actually. One of them had a row of little music boxes for sale, and some of them played typical music box music, but there were songs like Imagine and Singing In the Rain, and it was actually pretty cool.

Into the afternoon, Clarke found herself sitting on a bench sketching. It was hard to resist. People were walking up and down the street, going in and out of the shops, and it was like a scene from a movie. One that made you think Wow, I wish I could visit that place. Clarke wanted to capture it.

While she was doing so, though, her phone suddenly beeped from inside her bag. Grabbing it, she saw that it was Octavia texting her and she opened it eagerly.

 **From Octapussy – Lincoln and I r great, but yeah, Rae's a little down about it. She misses u, that's for sure, and it doesn't help that I've spent so much time w Lincoln. I really can't help it, though. I'm p sure I'm in love with him. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel 2 soon to say that. I was practically in love with him b4 we got together. I'd love to call u, but I'll be at work pretty much all day today and probably won't have a break 2 actually get on a phone call until ur asleep. Tomorrow, though, u and Raven and I should Face Time again! It's been almost a week since we saw ur face!**

A second text came through almost immediately afterward.

 **From Octapussy – I don't know that Rae is really hurt about u being gone. More down than normal, yes. Like I said, she really misses u. Can't blame her. She's not used to being w/o u, u know? I think she gets it, why u r gone. And even if she is hurt, she wouldn't admit it. She doesn't want to risk losing u, C. If she were bi or gay, I'd say she's in love w u. ;P But I know it's just b/c u 2 are such good friends. U should talk 2 her about it, tho, if u do think she's really hurt. No better way to figure out than that.**

 **To Octapussy – Yeah, you're right. I think I'll probably ask her about it tonight when I call her. I'm glad you and Lincoln are doing well. I don't think that you've fallen in love with him too quickly at all. I'll be back in the next 10 days, by the way. Clock's counting down now. I don't know for sure when, but definitely within 10 days. Have a good day at work, thanks for getting back to me, O!**

 **From Octapussy – You're welcome, it's not like we haven't been friends for like three years or anything, C. XD Hope you're having a good day! FT tomorrow, right?**

 **To Octapussy – If there's time. Should be another travel day, so we'll see.**

There was no response, and Clarke looked back up at her surroundings. Switching her phone over to her picture app, she took a slightly angled photo of the street in front of her, with a bit of the sketchbook on her lap visible in it. Then she went to her Facebook app and posted the picture without a caption. She couldn't help but be curious if any of the friends that she hadn't personally talked to in the last two weeks would comment. But also, she did feel slightly bad for keeping only three people updated on her life. She had more friends than just Raven and Octavia.

It was around two in the afternoon when Lexa called her, and they met up at another cafe place for lunch. It wasn't as good as the first one they'd gone to that morning, but it was pretty good nonetheless. She was much perkier now after talking to Octavia, and even if the conversation coming between her and Raven that night was on her mind a little bit, she didn't let it affect her mood. Instead, she joked and talked lightheartedly with Lexa as they had lunch together, and as they walked through the little town together hand in hand, and when they finally caught another bus back to Oberwesel.


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey," Clarke said into the phone, the blanket covering the bed pull up to her waist, since she was sitting up. Lexa was laying on the bed next to her, on her stomach as she moved her pictures from the past two days onto her laptop. They'd gotten back to Oberwesel and had dinner and walked around a bit more before making their way back to the hotel. It was now just after when Raven should've been coming out of work, and Clarke had been anticipating calling her friend all day, so she hadn't hesitated to do so.

"Hey, look who's calling on time again!" Raven teased. "You will not believe the day I've had. The law firm got this new stupid intern today – he wouldn't stop staring at my ass and stupidly flirting with me. I mean, he is kind of hot, but he's like fresh out of high school. Not about that life, even if he is already eighteen. Anyway, how was your day?"

"It was nice," Clarke replied, smiling a little bit after Raven's rant. "But hey, can I ask you about something?"

"You don't need to ask to ask me about anything, babe," Raven insisted, sounding slightly skeptical about the topic that Clarke was about to bring up. The blonde tried not to sound too heavy once she asked.

"So, I know that you've been feeling lonely, since O's always working or with Lincoln," Clarke said, "and I know that that's my fault. Because I'm not there."

"I guess," Raven answered slowly, sounding relatively monotone, like she was anxious about whatever else Clarke was about to say. "Why?"

"Are you mad at me? I mean, I know you were mad at me. But I feel like I hurt you, Rae, and you're my best friend... I just want to make sure that we're okay. I don't want to find out in three months that you've been angry with me under the surface. I just... I never meant to leave you alone. The thought didn't cross my mind at the time... which I know is completely selfish and stupid because of course I'd be leaving you if I was leaving DC," Clarke rambled, not hearing as Raven repeated her name.

"Clarke!" Raven finally exclaimed, finally cutting off the blonde. "Look. You are literally the one person I would trust with anything. You know that. You are my best friend. I couldn't ever be angry at you for longer than like a day. And yes, I was worried sick at first, and then I was pissed off, but that was gone after our first phone conversation. I mean... yeah, I'm lonely. I've almost always had you like no more than an hour away from me at any given moment. It's hard without you. I'm not used to it, and yeah, it's even harder with Octavia not around. But it's okay. I should probably get used to being without you more often."

Clarke was reassured during the first part of Raven's speech, but the last sentence may have actually cracked her heart a bit. "No, Raven. You shouldn't have to get used to that." They were both quiet for a moment, and the blonde took in a long breath. "You remember prom, Rae?"

A nostalgic chuckle escaped her best friend. "Of course."

"I told you that you'd always have me," Clarke stated, "and I wasn't lying. The few weeks before I left for Europe were most definitely the lowest I've ever had. Obviously. It was everything at once – Finn dumping me, losing the place that I'd been living in for a year and finally starting to get used to. It was the anniversary of my dad's death, and my mom trying to talk to me about Finn and my dad at once. It was realizing that I didn't have anything at all – aside from my job, though by the end of that first week, I didn't have that either. I'd never up and leave you alone, Rae, but I was really not okay."

"I know," Raven said softly. "I know that, C. But I don't want you ever to feel like that again. You have so many things. You have me, you have Octavia, you have your mom. I guess now, you have Lexa."

Clarke smiled, her gaze jumping over to the brunette. Lexa was obviously listening to the conversation, but she wasn't trying to eavesdrop, Clarke knew. That's why her gaze moved away from her computer only when she felt Clarke's on her. The brunette gave her a curious look, and Clarke just smiled a little wider at her. "Yeah, you're right," she said into the phone, glancing away from Lexa again. "And tell you what, Rae. One day, when you become the rich nerd I know you'll become, you can take me to Europe and I'll show you everything."

"Hey, the deal was that you bring me to Europe!"

"I'm a bartender, Rae. I can't afford to take you across Europe."

"That's why it's a future plan. For when you're rich."

"How do you suppose that will happen?" She laughed lightly, rolling her eyes.

Raven paused. "Yeah, I don't know. Whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Are you guys leaving Germany tomorrow?"

"I think so?" Clarke answered, furrowing her eyebrows. She looked back to Lexa and asked, "Are we leaving here tomorrow?"

Green eyes jumped over to meet blue ones. "Yeah. We have about five-ish hours of train riding to do tomorrow to get to where we're going."

"Which is where?" Clarke asked, raising her eyebrow.

Lexa smiled mischievously. "I guess you'll see tomorrow." Clarke rolled her eyes, her smile still in place however. The brunette went back to organizing her photos, and Clarke spoke again to Raven.

"We're leaving Germany tomorrow, yeah," she answered. "Don't know where we're going, though."

"You taking a train?"

"Yep," Clarke replied, wondering why Raven was asking.

"You get wifi on those things, right? There's not like train-mode on phones or something?" Raven asked, drawing a laugh from the blonde.

"Yes, there's internet," she replied, shaking her head at her friend. Though, she would hardly know anything about trains in Europe had she not been using them for the past two weeks. It was weird, how much she had learned and experienced since arriving two weeks ago. It was Friday, after all, marking the end of her second week in Europe.

"So we can Face Time during your train ride then," Raven stated. It was as far from a question as it could be. "O told me that you said you'd see. But now you know you can. So you are."

"Sure, but it'll probably be either really late or really early for you," Clarke agreed, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll be up," Raven insisted.

Clarke believed it. Remembering something that she was curious about, she asked, "Hey, you been to the bar recently? Who's covering for me?"

"Some low life," Raven answered dismissively. "I don't know his name. All I know is that he is incapable of serving drinks to me without leering. I've actually forced O and Lincoln to go out to a different bar with me over the past week. That guy creeps me out. I asked Wick though, and he said that the guy is ixnayed as soon as you're back."

"You mean nixed."

"Pig Latin is more fun, Clarke, don't be a downer. Anyway! I've actually gotta go – Jasper, Monty and Harper are taking me out shopping in like half an hour. Something about me being boring lately. Sounds like it's your fault that I'm boring. You better be back soon, Griffin!"

"Will do, Reyes," Clarke replied, smiling. "Talk to you tomorrow." She hung up the phone and tossed it aside, turning her body to face Lexa. "You almost done?"

"You can go to sleep while I'm awake," Lexa reminded her, a smile appearing on her lips almost instantly.

"I don't want to," Clarke whined. "You can't cuddle while you're on your computer. So are you almost done?"

Lexa glanced at her camera, then her computer, and then at Clarke, and she let out a light breath. "Yeah, mostly. I only have a few more to organize. I can do it on the train tomorrow. Let's go to bed." Clarke felt bad for a moment – feeling as though she'd forced her girlfriend to stop working – but Lexa actually relieved and very tired once she closed her laptop and set it off onto the nightstand. Clarke got up and switched off the lights, and then they got under the covers and cuddled each other close as they fell asleep.

Clarke woke up to the sound of a zipper on a suitcase, and she groaned outwardly as she rolled over into the empty spot in the bed next to her. "Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?" Clarke muttered, running her hand through her hair as she spotted Lexa packing up her bag. She was already fully dressed and seemingly ready to go.

"It's ten o'clock, Clarke," Lexa replied, smirking a little. "You slept a long time."

"I slept for like twelve hours," Clarke realized, her eyes widening. Her call with Raven had been at nine-thirty the previous night. "Wow. I feel like a teenager again."

"I guess you can't complain about no sleep now," Lexa teased her, smiling.

"Were you like tiptoeing around so that I wouldn't wake up, just so I wouldn't be all grumpy and tired all day?" Clarke asked, sitting up fully in the bed. Lexa shrugged, not answering one way or another. "What time do we need to get on the train."

"Eleven," Lexa answered. "We're taking a train up to Koblenz. That's about an hour north of here. Then, we can grab lunch there and catch a train to Luxembourg City. That's about three hours."

Clarke blinked. "That's where we're going? I don't know anything about Luxembourg."

"We're not staying in Luxembourg City," Lexa amended quickly, "but we are going to Luxembourg. To a town called Vianden. We'll get a bus from the city up there. Takes like half an hour or something. We shouldn't be there too late in the afternoon."

"Okay," Clarke agreed, stretching out her arms. "I'll leave all those logistics to you, as per usual."

Lexa laughed lightly. "We're only staying there tonight and tomorrow morning. Then we're heading to one other place."

Clarke felt her heart stop. "Which is the last?"

The brunette seemed to realize her wording – one other place. Implying that there was only one other after Vianden. "Ah. Yeah."

"Where is it?"

Lexa gave her a soft smile despite themselves. "Don't you want some surprise to it?" Clarke let out a sigh, but then she nodded. Knowing where they were going wasn't going to change the fact that they were just days away from this trip being over. Clarke could barely contain her emotions, though. She didn't know what she would do – laugh hysterically or cry or just pout. She didn't want it to be over.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Clarke said, slightly dispiritedly. She knew that Lexa could tell that she was upset, but the blonde was glad that Lexa didn't protest as she escaped into the bathroom and stripped her clothes before stepping under the hot water of the shower.

She knew that she shouldn't be angry at all at finding out that it was almost over. She'd already known that. And it wasn't fair of her to be upset, she realized, because Lexa had known all along when it was going to end. She'd had that on her mind from the beginning – it's why she extended her deadline to be back in New York. She'd been dealing with this the whole time. At least now that Clarke knew, she also knew that she wouldn't be losing her brunette companion, her girlfriend. The blonde couldn't help but wonder how Lexa had felt, for nearly two weeks, having no clue as to what was going to happen between them once they went home. Clarke had had a similar problem, of course, but she hadn't been looking at the calendar like the countdown on a bomb.

That's why, once she slipped out of the shower and dried off, beginning to get ready to leave Germany, she wasn't upset anymore. Well, no, she was upset that it was almost over. But she'd already been. She just wasn't mad about finding out how close it was exactly.

At least she wouldn't lose Lexa.

When she left the bathroom, she was immediately aware of Lexa's worried gaze landing on her. "I... was going to tell you that it was almost over when we got to Luxembourg. I didn't know when was the right time to mention when the last place was coming up. I thought about not saying anything until we actually get to the last city, but... plane tickets and whatnot..."

Clarke gave the brunette an amused smile. "I can't buy a plane ticket if I don't know where I'm flying out from."

Lexa blushed. "Oh, right."

"Is your evil plan to not let me know, so that I end up trying to buy the ticket the day before the flight and then don't have the money to?" Clarke asked, smirking a little. She wasn't mad at all, and she hoped that the lightness in her voice expressed that enough.

Lexa looked to be in deep thought for a moment, and then she hummed and said, "How about, I buy your ticket home, and –"

"Lexa..."

"No wait," Lexa interrupted, "I don't mean that I'll pay for it. I mean, I'll buy it now. And you can pay me back when you get home. That way it's not too outrageous of a price, and you don't have to get the last city spoiled to you."

Clarke found a smile coming to her face. "Okay, deal. But you better let me pay you back. I should really pay you back for so much..."

"Most everything that I've 'paid for for you' was already paid for for me," Lexa insisted, shaking her head. "I mean, I was already going to get this room. And though you do eat a lot," she said it as a joke, and it brought a wider smile to Clarke's lips, "it's not enough that it's worth paying me back for what I've bought for you."

"What about the two rooms that you had upgraded to two beds?" Clarke countered, raising an eyebrow. "And I'm pretty sure you paid for a couple of my train tickets."

"If you really want to pay for those upgrades," Lexa said, giving in slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest, "then I'll tell you how much they cost. Which was not much. But not until after you get back home. That way you can just me or something and don't have to worry about the cash."

"Okay... what about the trains?"

"Clarke," Lexa huffed out, frowning. "Please. I asked you to come with me, and it was spontaneous and obviously quite rewarding, but I asked. It wasn't your idea. I don't want to make you pay for everything."

Clarke didn't know whether to press anymore or not. She did feel slightly bad about using Lexa's money, but she felt like pushing the brunette anymore wouldn't be good. Not that Lexa would do anything bad, but she didn't think it would get anywhere. So she gave in. "Okay. But you'll still let me pay for the upgrades?"

"Yes," Lexa agreed, relaxing now.

"Thank you," Clarke breathed out, but after a second, she realized she was thanking Lexa for more than letting her pay., "for everything, Lexa."

"Don't," Lexa insisted, shaking her head. "Don't thank me until we're actually parting ways. This is getting too depressing."

"Okay," Clarke relented, nodding.

The first train ride they had at eleven brought them to Koblenz, Germany, and they only had to stay there for about twenty minutes before getting on a train at noon to take them to the capital of Luxembourg. It was then, when Lexa was finishing up the task of organizing her pictures that she had abandoned the previous night, that Clarke sent her friends a text.

 **To Octapussy & Rae Bae – You two losers awake and want to face time or not?**

 **From Rae Bae – FUCK YES!**

 **From Octapussy – Have u slept yet R? Jesus. We'll call u in a few, Clarke, it's 6 AM, lemme get up.**

It was about a five minutes later that her phone started ringing with the Face Time call. The particular train car that Lexa and Clarke were on was mostly empty, and the other people occupying it were talking among themselves, so the blonde didn't see any issue with answering the call without her earphones. Plus, no one would even be able to hear her phone very well. She didn't think it would bother Lexa, either, since the brunette was always insisting that it wouldn't.

Still, she looked over at her girlfriend and asked, "Will it bother you if I Face Time with O and Raven out loud?" Lexa looked up from her computer and diverting her gaze to Clarke next to her.

"Nope," she replied, smiling softly before looking back at the laptop.

Clarke hit the answer button finally, and her friends tired faces appeared on the screen. They looked to be in Octavia's room, which meant that Raven had probably bust in there to force the sleepier girl to wake up. "Hey guys," she said, smiling at her phone.

"Clarke!" Raven exclaimed excitedly. "You look much more awake than Octavia."

"It's noon," Clarke reminded her, "and Octavia's always had waking up issues. But so have you, so..."

"This crazy bitch didn't sleep," Octavia muttered, rolling her eyes. "Of course the one night that I decide to stay here instead of at Lincoln's, she doesn't get back until midnight and then she forces me to watch some movie with her. I barely managed to get her to let me sleep afterward. I've been asleep only four hours, C."

"Ignore her," Raven insisted, shaking her head. "She loved the movie."

"Was it Princess Bride?" Clarke asked, smirking. That was one of Raven's favorites, but Clarke wasn't a big fan and Octavia had always had mixed feelings toward it. But it was Raven's go to stay-up-late movie.

"Yes," Octavia groaned, "I hate that fucking movie."

"You do not!" Raven exclaimed.

"I'm with you, O."

"Hey," Lexa said suddenly, flashing Clarke a frown. "Princess Bride is a good movie."

"It's awful!" Clarke countered, her jaw dropping.

Lexa narrowed her intense eyes at the blonde. "What about it is so bad?"

"It's so boring and stupid!" Octavia exclaimed, and Clarke nodded in agreement. She'd turned the phone a little bit so that her friends could see the brunette sitting next to her.

"No it's not!" Raven squeaked. "It's so good! Saying you don't like Princess Bride is like saying you don't like The Wizard of Oz! They're both classics!"

Lexa looked pointedly at Clarke. "She's not wrong."

"Just because it's a classic doesn't mean that everyone has to like it," Clarke insisted.

"Anyway," Octavia finally cut in, deciding that that was enough about the movie. "The point is, Rae didn't sleep and so she's going to crash as soon as this call is over. Or maybe she'll just stay up all day. You never know with her."

"Well, it's Saturday," Clarke reasoned, shrugging.

"See!" Raven exclaimed, looking to the brunette next to her. "Oh hey, Clarke! Tell O that she has to stay in with me today instead of go out with Lincoln!"

"O, you have to stay in with Rae today," Clarke said, smirking.

Octavia made a "hmph" noise, but then her face lit up a little bit. "I'll just invite Lincoln over then."

"Oh jeez," Raven groaned. "No, please go out. I do not want to hear you guys getting it on all day." Octavia looked offended by the comment.

"We wouldn't have sex all day," she exclaimed. "I'd still hang out with you! Just... so would Lincoln."

"Not feeling the threesome thing, thanks though, O," Raven teased.

"Wha... I didn't say anything about a threesome?" Octavia squeaked.

Clarke was laughing by now, biting the inside of her lip to keep from being too loud. "Chill out, Octavia. You're just feeding her teasing even more." Octavia just pouted, sealing her lips pointedly to keep from giving Raven anything else to tease her about.

"Okay," Raven said slowly, as if trying to think of how to carry on the conversation without her roommate's help. "So. I'm assuming you didn't get any mind blowing sex last night from the hot photographer since you actually called me on time?"

Clarke was appalled at the sudden question, her jaw dropped as Lexa started laughing next to her. How the brunette didn't get embarrassed, Clarke had no clue at all. "Raven!"

"What? You stopped me from being able to tease O," Raven stated. "And since you two are all official now, it shouldn't be awkward."

"We're on a train, Raven," Clarke hissed, her face still beet red. Suddenly, though, she felt soft lips pressing against her cheek, and she relaxed considerably. Raven snickered at the display, but Octavia was cutting off any further communication between the two best friends.

"Wait, wait, what? Official? Why don't people tell me things?" Octavia demanded.

"Because you're always hanging out with Lincoln," Raven snapped, "so you miss out on important conversations. I only found out after calling Clarke like seven times when it was one in the morning there, because apparently sex with Lexa is higher priority than me."

"For what it's worth," Lexa piped up from next to Clarke, getting the blonde to turn the phone toward her a bit, "I was willing to stop."

"You weren't the one halfway to – uh, never mind." Raven was practically hollering with laughter by this point. "Fuck this, you two are going to side against me for everything."

"Never," Lexa said sweetly, grinning adorably at the blonde, who tried to hold a glare. But when Lexa leaned forward and pressed her lips to Clarke's, she could help but give in and kiss her back. Their kiss would perhaps have gone on much longer if it hadn't been for Octavia cooing at them through the phone.

"You know," Octavia said thoughtfully, once Clarke was looking back at the phone. She was leaning subconsciously against her girlfriend, but Lexa said nothing of it as she began to put her laptop away, apparently done with her task. "She's definitely an upgrade from Finn."

"You think?" Clarke said, rolling her eyes as her blue eyes flickered over to Lexa, who was actually blushing a little bit.

"She's definitely hotter than Finn," Raven commented.

"Rae," Octavia said, "are you sure that you're not gay? Even a little bit? You seriously ogle over girls all the fucking time."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Who fucking knows? I've been single for god knows how long. But it's not weird that I can recognize when girls are hot as fuck."

"I always thought that you were secretly gay and in love with Clarke," Octavia admitted, "at least, during the first month or so that I knew both of you."

Raven gagged playfully, and Clarke's jaw dropped. "Hey!"

"Clarke and I would not be compatible like that. Though, I do have her whipped, so..."

"You do not," Clarke huffed. "Rae and I wouldn't ever have chemistry."

"I saw it," Octavia said.

Raven rolled her eyes. "You always see the wrong things, O. For example, the fact that you and Lincoln –"

"Not this again," Octavia groaned.

"When are you moving in with Lincoln?" Clarke asked curiously.

Octavia huffed. "I don't know?"

"Clarke called your room."

"Raven offered it," Clarke argued. "Though, it is preferable to the couch."

"Unless there's not a bed in there," Octavia pointed out.

Raven scoffed. "Why would you need to move out with a bed? You've spent at least half an hour gushing about how perfect and comfortable Lincoln's bed is. You don't need two when you move in with him."

"Wait, are you guys kicking me out of my own apartment so that Clarke can take my room just because Lincoln and I are dating now?" Octavia asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes," Raven and Clarke answered simultaneously. They were obviously joking, the smirks on their faces evident, but Octavia narrowed her eyes nonetheless.

"Fuck you guys," Octavia snapped. "How about Clarke starts paying for her own apartment?"

Clarke suddenly snapped her mouth shut, but her best friend spoke up for her. "She was, until Finn decided that it was better kept as his."

"You're not that broke, Clarke," Octavia said, ignoring her roommate. "You could pay for an apartment for just yourself. I mean, you could by now had you been working all this time."

"Octavia," Raven snapped, nudging the brunette as Clarke stayed silent.

"What?" Octavia asked defensively.

"Shut the fuck up," Raven replied, huffing.

Clarke pursed her lips and hummed thoughtfully. "Um, I should probably let you guys sleep some more. Especially you, Rae."

"Clarke..." Octavia's tone of voice made it clear that she'd realized that she shouldn't have gone where she did with the conversation, but Clarke didn't feel like talking anymore.

"I'll talk to you guys tomorrow," she said quickly, before clicking the end call button and dropping her phone on her lap. "Fucking Octavia." She fully leaned into Lexa next to her, who was silent as she lifted her right hand and began to play lightly with Clarke's hair. After a few moments, Clarke found herself speaking again, "She's always the 'practical' one. She's been really cool about everything, but she has a harder time accepting what she views as bad decisions."

"Well," Lexa said softly, "I don't think that you coming to Europe was a bad decision."

Clarke chuckled quietly. "Of course you don't, babe," she murmured, letting her eyes flicker closed as Lexa continued to play with her hair. "I don't either. I mean, I know that had I put my money elsewhere, I could probably afford a run down little apartment. But I couldn't. Anyway. If O doesn't move out, I can move in with my mom again. She's got plenty of space, anyway. I mean, at least until I can afford my own place again."

Lexa said nothing, but Clarke didn't need her to. Being this close, and feeling long fingers pull through her hair was enough. It was enough to just know that Lexa was there with her.

She fell asleep sometime after that, and woke up when they were reaching Luxembourg City to find that Lexa was also asleep. After quickly waking up her girlfriend, they both gathered up their things and left the train.

They barely had any time to admire the city around them before they found themselves rushing onto a bus, the route of which would go through the town Vianden that Lexa had said they were going to. Clarke was over the thing with Octavia by then, and she made light conversation with her girlfriend as they rode on the bus. Lexa told her about living in New York – its ups and downs. Even though Clarke had been there before, she hadn't ever pictured living there. She wasn't sure that she could. She had no issue with cities, but New York City was more than just a city.

When they reached Vianden, they got off of the bus with all of their things and made their way through the quaint little town to a little hotel place that looked relatively cozy and nice. They had a nice patio area for dinner, and Clarke and Lexa knew that they would be stopping there after settling into their room a little bit.

They had an early dinner at the hotel restaurant, and then the blonde followed Lexa through the little town. It was still sort of bright out by then, because despite it being spring and still slightly cold, the sun was much later to set than what Clarke was used to. They walked across a bridge and then along the river that ran through the town, and Lexa took photos. When they were just walking, though, Clarke's hand stayed intertwined with Lexa's where it belonged.

And despite what Octavia thought, or what was "practical", Clarke knew that right now, this was where she belonged... with Lexa.


	20. Chapter 20

Clarke felt Lexa shift next to her in bed, and she wondered briefly if the brunette was awake. Her silent question was answered when she felt a soft kiss, so light that it was almost just the ghost of a kiss, press against the skin where her neck met her collarbone. A sigh escaped her lips, and Lexa, now aware that Clarke was awake, sucked a bit of the pale skin in between her lips.

"Lexa," Clarke murmured, though she wasn't sure what words had been meant to follow up the name. Lexa seemed to know that, and she didn't answer with any words of her own. Instead, her lips trailed down Clarke's naked front, through the valley between her breasts, and down to her midsection. The blonde, despite having just woken up, found the area in between her legs heating up against her will. "I'm tired," she groaned.

"But not too tired, right?"

Clarke felt Lexa's tongue flicker against the skin just below her belly button, and she exhaled deeply. "Ah... right," she answered, unable to deny that she wanted her girlfriend. She peeled her eyes open just in time to see Lexa become level with her center. However, she didn't go directly for Clarke's sex, and instead began ghosting her lips over the insides of the blonde's thighs. "Lexa," she groaned. "If you're gonna wake me up this way, at least do it properly."

"I could just not do it at all?" came Lexa's teasing response, her words vibrating the now tingling skin on Clarke's thighs. She groaned again.

"Lexa..."

"Clarke..."

The blonde bit down on her lower lip, fighting a smile. Lexa was now looking up at her with soft green eyes trying and failing to be as intense as usual. Perhaps they had lost intensity just because it was so early, but for whatever reason, Clarke found it actually really adorable.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing."

Lexa narrowed her eyes a little bit, and then she huffed. "You're making this awkward."

"How did I make this awkward?"

"I don't know."

Clarke let out a loud laugh, and then she bit down again on her lower lip. "But you're gonna still go down on me, right?"

"For fuck's sake, Clarke."

"Exactly, for fuck's sake," Clarke returned, batting her eyelashes at her girlfriend. Lexa rolled her eyes, sitting up and abandoning her task. Clarke's jaw dropped. "Lexa," she whined, sitting up as Lexa got up off of the bed. The blanket that had been covering her body had long since disappeared – she saw it out of the corner of her eye flung carelessly across the floor from sometime the previous night.

"I need a shower," the brunette replied, though she didn't sound mad, only smug. As she disappeared into the bathroom and Clarke heard the shower come on, the blonde's resolve strengthened. She waited until she was sure that Lexa was under the water of the shower, and she got up off of the bed and checked the time. It was eight-thirty, so they had plenty of time, she was sure, before Lexa had to be taking pictures. She knew that they weren't staying in Vianden for the whole rest of the day, and she wasn't sure at what time they needed to leave, but she was now too aroused to let it go. The previous night should've held her over... but clearly, that wasn't the case.

She dropped her phone back onto the nightstand and silently made her way into the bathroom. The steam in the room told her that the shower was hot – and Clarke was slightly surprised that it wasn't cold. It made her think that Lexa maybe suspected what Clarke was going to do.

Hardly even pulling back the shower curtain, Clarke stepped into the shower behind the brunette and pressed the front of her body into Lexa's. The brunette sighed contently, pressing back into her. "Hi," Lexa practically purred.

"Hello," Clarke returned, pushing Lexa's hair aside and pressing her lips against the side of her girlfriend's neck. "You were gonna leave me in there," she murmured against the soft skin.

"I needed to shower..."

"So did I," Clarke reasoned, her hands tickling along Lexa's sides and causing the girl to shiver. "But we have time..."

"Not really," Lexa muttered, though she didn't sound very insistent.

"Then why'd you wake me up with the intent of wasting time?" Clarke asked, chuckling lightly as she pulled her lips away from Lexa's skin and the brunette turned around, their chests now flush with one another.

"You're not a waste of time." Without warning, Clarke was suddenly pushed up against the cold shower wall, gasping as Lexa crouched down and didn't hesitate for even a second before pressing her lips in between Clarke's legs.

"Fuck," Clarke hissed, caught completely off guard. "You totally planned for this."

Lexa didn't answer her, instead devoting her mouth and two of her fingers to the task of fucking her girlfriend. Clarke did not argue at all, wishing that she had something other than Lexa's hair to grab onto forcefully. Her center was dripping by the time she finally began to come, though she suspected that Lexa had gone slowly on purpose. When she finally found release, she yelled out some expletive that she couldn't recall a second later, and leaned fully into the wall.

Lexa trailed kissed back up Clarke's body appreciatively, and then landed on softly on her lips. Clarke tasted herself on her girlfriend's lips, and she moaned.

"You're right," Lexa murmured into the kiss, "I totally planned for this."

"You like shower sex?" Clarke questioned, her voice low as her fingers pointedly tickled across Lexa's hips, her girlfriend practically quivering under her touch.

"Mm, maybe," Lexa whispered in response, and Clarke slowly pushed her back away from the wall and turned them around. Now, the brunette was pinned against it, and Clarke could feel hot water pounding against her back. It didn't bother her, and hardly distracted her from her goal. She pressed herself into her girlfriend, her pale thigh sliding purposefully between Lexa's.

"Good." Clarke's lips attached themselves to Lexa's neck. Lexa tilted her head to the side, offering the blonde better access, and began to grind into her thigh. Clarke slowly trailed the pads of her fingers down her girlfriend's body, finally sliding her left hand between Lexa's legs in place of her own. As soon as she touched her, Lexa let out a desperate groan and rocked her hips back a forth, trying for more friction.

Clarke moved her lips back to Lexa's as she continued to touch her, but when the point came that she was gasping for air, the blonde returned her mouth to Lexa's neck.

She was faster to climax than Clarke had been, and when she was coming down afterward, both of them leaned against one another, calming their breathing.

Then, they both actually needed to shower. They did so quickly, both of them tired of standing even though they knew they would have to do so for most of the rest of the day. After washing their bodies and their hair, they exited the shower and began to get ready for the day. Rather than taking turns, they stood side by side in the bathroom, tracing their faces with makeup and doing their hair. Getting dressed was their last priority before leaving, and once they were fully clothed again, they grabbed their respective bags and left the hotel room.

"So," Lexa said as they walked through the old building that was the hotel, "I don't know if you saw it yesterday, but there's this castle up in the mountain area of this place."

"Another castle?" Clarke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not a hotel," the brunette said, laughing lightly. "But... I have to go up there to take pictures. It's really cool – there's like a ski lift thing that takes you up to the mountain, and then we just walk to the castle from there and check it out. It's really cool."

"Good think I'm not afraid of heights," Clarke commented, smiling. "But I vote on food first."

A laugh bubbled out of Lexa. "Of course."

They stopped a little cafe for breakfast, sitting outside along the cobbled street as they ate. Clarke felt like she couldn't speak – this town was incredibly quiet. She could hear birds chirping, and maybe a street or two down a few women were chatting in a language foreign to Clarke. But besides that, it was utterly silent. Beautiful and incredibly silent.

Without them talking, breakfast was quick, and once they were done and it was paid for, Clarke followed Lexa through the little town and to the place where tickets were taken to go up to the castle. Lexa produced the two tickets from her bag and just a moment later, Clarke found herself buckled onto a little ski lift seat next to Lexa, and it began to bring them up to the top of the mountain.

Once there, Lexa already had her camera out to begin taking pictures. Clarke looked around the little area at the top – it was covered in trees and greenery, but there were a few little buildings as well. It seemed like there was a place to eat, or at least to sit and relax. Clarke made note of that, in case by the time they returned for the lift down, she needed a rest from all the walking.

Her mental note, she knew, wouldn't be in vain either, because after Lexa had taken pictures, they found themselves being guided with a group of a few other people to the castle. It was a rough walk, but Lexa kept hold of Clarke's hand and neither of them tripped, which was good. Lexa made a joke about falling and getting impaled by a rock though – Clarke did not find that very humorous. It was miraculous enough that she was walking through nature, she did not need any jokes about nature related deaths to top it off.

The castle, though, as they approached it, was definitely more than Clarke had expected. As they'd walked to the chairlift, she'd seen it, but that was from the town below. From up close, it was massive, a fortress really. They had to pay a pretty cheap entrance fee to get into the castle, and the blonde made sure to pay for hers before Lexa could. The brunette just smiled amusedly to herself, and paid for her own ticket.

Clarke followed Lexa almost absentmindedly through the castle, her eyes glued to her surroundings. They were magnificent. Most of the castle had been revamped, so to speak, and seemed to still be in the process of completion. As it if hadn't been completed whenever it was build, years and years and years ago. Inside the castle, it was cold. Not uncomfortably so, but enough that Clarke could understand how people could live in stone buildings such as this even in the heat of the summer. The stone made it nice and cool no matter how deeply inside the structure they were.

They reached one portion of the castle that was open, overlooking the hills around them. They were more hills than mountains, Clarke realized, even though they did feel incredibly high up. The direction the overlook area was facing made it slightly difficult to see the town, but the view was amazing nonetheless. Clarke couldn't help but feel like she was on top of the world.

It took them just over an hour and a half or so to go through the majority of it, including the time it took for Lexa to take pictures, and when it was just past noon, they were making their way down away from the castle.

"That was awesome," Clarke admitted, holding Lexa's hand tightly as they began to trek back up to where they'd come from.

"So were the pictures," Lexa said proudly, smiling. "I came a bit earlier in the year last time, so it was colder then. This was a much better time of year to come."

"I'm just glad it's not June or July," Clarke admitted. "I would definitely be dead from all this walking if it was any hotter."

"Oh come on, I'm from further north than you and I'm pretty sure I could survive a little heat," Lexa teased, as Clarke nearly tripped over some foliage on the ground and let out a grunt of frustration.

"Well, I think we've both learned throughout this trip that you are, unsurprisingly, more in shape than I am." Blue eyes were focused on the ground where her feet were stepping, and so Clarke missed the smirk that appeared suddenly on Lexa's face.

"When I'm not traveling," Lexa started with a bit of humor in her tone, "I actually try to work out at least once a week."

"Like I said, unsurprising," Clarke responded. "You definitely don't need to work out while you're in Europe – at least not with how much you specifically walk around everywhere."

"You know, people in Europe tend to actually be a lot more fit," Lexa said lightly.

"Because they ride fucking bicycles everywhere," Clarke muttered, avoiding a branch that she just knew was trying to trip her.

Lexa laughed. "It doesn't hurt to exercise."

Clarke finally looked up, glaring at the brunette as best as she could. "Are you trying to say that I need to work out?"

"Of course not," her girlfriend replied, smiling innocently as she gently pulled Clarke to the side in order to avoid her hitting a low hanging branch. "Your body is beautiful." A blush rose to pale cheeks. "I'm just saying that exercise isn't bad."

"Of course it's not," Clarke agreed, "it's just effort. And it's boring."

"I bet you wouldn't find it boring if you went to the gym with me," Lexa stated simply.

"I might not find it boring, but I'd be incredibly distracted."

"Yeah?"

"Oh fuck off with those teasing eyes, Lexa, you know I'd be distracted if you were sweating and wearing minimal clothing," the blonde muttered, earning a bright laugh from Lexa, who was apparently over playing innocent about the conversation.

"At least you wouldn't be bored."

* * *

"You're calling early," Raven's voice said through the phone as she picked up.

"Yep," Clarke agreed, stretching her arms up over her head. They'd gotten back to the hotel about an hour before, and had both taken a nap immediately upon returning. After taking the amazing chairlift back down to the town, Lexa snapping pictures all the way, they'd stopped somewhere for a quick lunch and explored the rest of the town that Lexa needed to take pictures at. By the time they were back at their room, they were both utterly exhausted. Now, Lexa was washing up in the bathroom and starting to pack up her stuff. Clarke, having woken up about ten minutes after girlfriend, decided that it would be best to call her best friend now rather than later. "We have another train ride tonight, and I think I'm gonna sleep through most of it."

"Long day?"

"We walked through a castle," Clarke said dreamily, falling back against her pillow even though she knew that she needed to get up now. "It was great. Tiring, but great."

"Where are you again?"

"A place called Vianden in Luxembourg."

"And where are you going?"

"I dunno," Clarke answered, hesitating for a moment afterward. "Ah, the place we're going next, though, is the last place we're going."

"How long are you going to be there for?"

"I don't know," Clarke answered. It wasn't really a lie, but Clarke knew that she could guess. It would be one or two days, like every other place they'd been to. But she didn't want to say that out loud and admit that it was almost over.

"Alright... hey, wait. If you know it's the last place, but don't know where it is or when you're leaving it, have you not bought your return ticket?" Raven sounded very skeptical.

"Ah... Lexa is buying it. But, before you get your panties in a knot, I'm paying her back once I'm back in DC," Clarke explained.

"It's twist, Clarke. Panties in a twist."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," the blonde insisted, sitting up again and looking to her suitcase, which was open with clothes hanging out of it. She'd run out of clean clothes again, but some of them weren't necessarily dirty, and so instead of bothering washing them for the next couple of days, she decided she'd just reuse the cleaner ones. Unless, of course, there was an easy access washing machine wherever they were going next. Either way, she didn't really care. Her return day was inching closer and closer anyway.

The thought made her stomach twist up into knots.

"How's your morning?" Clarke knew that it was just around ten in the morning there, and since it was Sunday, Raven had probably not been up very long yet.

"Lazy," Raven replied, sounding like she was probably cuddled up in her bed, and Clarke was jealous of her as she stood up and made her way to her suitcase, beginning to pack it up. "How's your afternoon?"

"Same, I just woke up from a nap," Clarke replied. "But now I'm packing so."

"Exciting," Raven said. "O and I are having a girl's afternoon today. Too bad you're not here."

"We should do a girl's night when I get back," Clarke offered, though despite the joy in her voice as she said it, she felt strangely hollow. When I get back. It was too soon. "We can go clubbing or something."

"You mean you haven't gone to a single European club?"

"No? Should I have?"

Raven laughed. "I have no fucking clue. But yeah, we definitely should. We can invite everyone out. Harper's been demanding that Octavia and I explain your absence to her. I don't even know where to begin when people ask, so I just decided that you can do all of your own explaining when you're back."

"Alright," Clarke agreed, laughing lightly. She was finishing up tucking her clothes into her suitcase as Lexa came out of the bathroom, her makeup bag and toiletries in hand. Clarke got up and made her way into the bathroom to grab her own things. "What are you and O doing today?"

"Just going to a movie and then to the bar. I told her about the idiot working there while you're gone, and she's gonna try and scare him away. Doubt it'll work though. She thinks she's super intimidating, but she's really not."

Clarke laughed. "O is pretty intimidating."

"Not when she's drinking. She turns into a bubbly teenager, I swear. At least, at first. Then she gets all whiny," Raven claimed.

"Rae, she only gets whiny because you lay on the floor for hours and won't let her put you to bed," Clarke insisted, scooping her stuff into one hand and bringing it out to her suitcase. "Trust me, the same thing happens to me. I'd be so more pleasant of a drunk if I didn't have to take care of you." Despite how they could've sounded, the words were coated in fondness, and Clarke knew that Raven wouldn't take offense.

"Ah, whatever," Raven muttered. "Hey, you kinda woke me up, so I'm gonna go back to sleep. Thanks for calling, though, seriously."

"My bad," Clarke said, "go back to sleep. Love you Rae. I'll see you in... some amount of time. Have fun with O later."

"Have fun with Lexa! Bye!" The call ended, and Clarke dropped her phone in order to properly fit her things back into her suitcase.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Lexa said, "Zurich."

"What?"

Clarke looked over her shoulder at Lexa, who was on her computer, scanning the screen. "That's where we're going. It's in Switzerland. It's about a six hour train ride, and we have to basically hop from train to train all evening. We won't get there until like... midnight."

"Okay," Clarke said softly, wondering if Lexa was going to say anything else.

"Is that okay?"

"Yes."

Lexa took in a shaky breath. "So, we're staying in Zurich for all of Monday. Tuesday... I need to go back to New York on Tuesday. I have to go into the gallery with my digital photos on Wednesday morning." Clarke could see Lexa physically swallow, clearly upset with having to admit when the end of the journey was.

"So... you're buying tickets for Tuesday right now?" Clarke asked quietly. She didn't want to sound sad, because she didn't want to make Lexa anymore sad, but she couldn't help but be sad. Not just sad, though, more crestfallen and helpless. Lexa nodded. "Are there flights leaving for DC and New York around the same time?"

Lexa pursed her lips together, looking through the web page in front of her. "There's a connecting flight that goes from here to Iceland to New York that leaves at three and gets to the states at around nine. There's one an hour later that goes directly to DC."

Neither of them said anything. It felt too soon to separate.

"Or..."

"Is there another flight time?" Clarke asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly as she tried to figure out what alternative Lexa was about to suggest.

Green eyes jumped up to meet concerned blue ones. "Or you could come with me. To New York." Clarke was surprised by the suggestion, almost as surprised as she'd been the first time Lexa had asked her to come with her – just before they left for Paris.

"I..."

"Just for a few days," Lexa said softly. "When do you need to be back in DC?"

"By Monday... but this weekend would be better," Clarke replied quietly.

"I'll drive you back by Friday," Lexa promised, her eyes hopeful and her expression raising slightly as she waited for Clarke's answer.

Clarke knew that her friends would want her back as soon as possible, along with her mom, but she didn't need to be back until Monday. And she'd been planning for the possibility that the trip would take longer than expected. She hadn't known when it was going to end, after all. And she'd always enjoyed going to New York.

And it would mean a few extra days with Lexa.

"Okay."


	21. Chapter 21

It didn't sink in that Clarke wasn't going straight back to DC after Zurich, but that was expected, considering that it wasn't yet time to leave Europe. For now, Clarke found herself following behind Lexa, her suitcase dragging behind her, as they switched onto the last train of their train hopping journey. She was tired, that was for sure, but the nap that she'd had in Vianden before they'd taken the bus back to Luxembourg City had helped a lot. Now, she just had persevere until they got to their hotel in Zurich.

Clarke knew little to nothing about Switzerland, but she'd been within its borders for the past hour to so. She wasn't sure what language was spoken there, or what sort of things there was within the borders. She was pretty sure that skiing was a thing, because of the Alps that she was pretty sure lied in the boundaries of the country. Aside from that, all she knew was that they made some freaking amazing chocolate.

Yeah, Clarke didn't know much about Switzerland.

The final train ride didn't teach her much either. She thought about asking Lexa, but both of them ended up falling asleep after ten minutes of sitting in the bustling vehicle. It was nearing midnight, and though their rush from one train to another had gone somewhat smoothly, they were both ready for it to be over. Clarke found herself, for a split second as she woke up at the end of the train journey, feeling glad that this was their last train ride.

The instant she thought it, though, the implications of the idea hit her, and she regretted feeling glad. She didn't want this to be over.

Being depressed on top of being tired was not what she wanted, however, so as she and Lexa trudged tiredly off of the final train into the train station in Zurich, Clarke pushed all thoughts of parting with Lexa out of her mind. They could haunt her later, preferably when they were actually relevant. Not now, not yet. She much preferred pretending that this would last forever.

Luckily, they didn't have to take a bus from the train station to their hotel. It was a short walk away through the center of the city, which was so lit up that it almost convinced Clarke that it was actually daytime. The small towns that they'd been in recently had almost made her forget that there were big cities at all in Europe, but Zurich was lit up magnificently. If Clarke hadn't been so tired, she might've stopped and admired it. She was sure Lexa would've done the same.

Seeing as it was past midnight, though, they located their hotel as quickly as possible and Lexa checked them in as fast as she could with the language difference. Luckily, the man at the desk spoke English fairly well. It sounded like he spoke something like German, though, and Clarke found herself wondering again about what language Swiss people spoke.

She'd Google it later. In the meantime, she followed Lexa to their hotel room and didn't even bother with the bathroom as all as she collapsed onto the bed face first and fully clothed, taking off only her shoes before sliding under the blankets.

Despite her exhaustion, though, she couldn't sleep until Lexa had come out of the bathroom and slid under the blankets next to her. Once the brunette had wrapped her arms securely around Clarke, the blonde could finally sleep.

Clarke was awake before Lexa, and immediately noticed that the brunette had turned over, her arms no longer wrapped around the blonde. She wasn't really surprised – she usually woke up disconnected from Lexa.

This morning, however, she felt like shit from sleeping in her clothes and with makeup still on her face. Releasing a frustrated groan, Clarke pulled herself up from the comfort of the bed and stumbled over to her suitcase. Once a change of clothes and her makeup bag was in her hand, she found her way to the bathroom.

An hour later, she felt significantly better, and as she left the bathroom, she saw Lexa sitting up in the bed, her phone to her ear. Clarke hadn't once seen her talk on the phone to anyone – though she had definitely texted people before. It was entirely possible that she had when Clarke was around, but it wasn't something she was used to. She wondered curiously who it was as she retrieved her phone from where it was plugged it – apparently Lexa had done that for her.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Lexa said into her phone, her gaze falling on Clarke as the blonde made her way back to the bed, her phone in her hand, despite being completely ready for the day. She definitely didn't mind sitting in bed for a little longer. "Uh, not really. She's coming to New York with me."

Clarke's gaze jumped over to Lexa – she wasn't surprised to hear that whoever Lexa was talking to knew about her, but it just was surprising to hear Lexa talk about her.

"Just for a few days," Lexa replied to the phone.

Clarke pulled her gaze back to her own phone, unlocking it as she realized that she had new text messages.

 **From Mom – Any idea when you'll be back?**

 **To Mom – Probably Friday.**

She was glad that she hadn't told Raven an earlier estimate, because now that she was going to New York, her correct estimate that she was saying in Europe for another couple of days only was irrelevant regarding her return to DC.

"I guess," Lexa said slowly into the phone, and Clarke now understood what it was like to listen to a one sided conversation. She had to mentally applaud Lexa for not asking questions and being nosy every time that Clarke had been on the phone – the blonde was tempted to be nosy herself, but she forced herself not to be. "No, Anya, you're not allowed to be weird like that."

Clarke had one other text message, but after reading it, she didn't put in the effort to reply.

 **From Soul-Crushing-Ex – You coming back to the real world yet?**

She wanted to ask why he cared, or tell him not to and to instead fuck off. But she didn't. He didn't deserve the time of day.

"Okay, fine, maybe," Lexa was saying into the phone. "But not Wednesday. Okay. Deal. Bye." She hung up the phone and let out a breath, drawing Clarke's curious gaze. The blonde didn't ask any questions, but as Lexa met her gaze, she knew that her curiosity had been caught. "That was Anya, my best friend. She wants to meet you while you're in New York."

"Okay," Clarke said, unbothered albeit slightly nervous about the idea. At least if Lexa were to meet Raven or Octavia, she'd already spoken to them via the phone, and seen them just about as close to in person as two people could get when an ocean separated them. It would be different for Clarke meeting Anya.

"Is that okay?" Lexa seemed to know that it would be a little weird.

Clarke smiled easily, though. "Yep."

"Good, because whether or not, she was gonna come barge into my apartment," Lexa admitted, laughing lightly. "You'll like her. She's cool."

"Mm," Clarke hummed. Silence sat between them for a moment, but then the blonde asked, "What are we doing today?"

"Pictures," Lexa replied, sighing as her gaze dropped for a moment down to Clarke's lips. "I'd rather stay in bed all day."

"Lots of walking?"

"Some," the brunette replied, her eyes popping back up to meet blue ones. "But have to take the bus around some as well. There's a Starbucks near here though that I am definitely going to need to stop at. Traveling yesterday took like... all of my leftover energy. I'm gonna sleep through the whole plane trip tomorrow."

Clarke smiled, mostly because she was picturing a plane ride to Lexa, to New York City. It was scary, on one hand, to be deviating from her original plan yet again. But it had become almost ritual by now, something that was meant to happen, and she knew that it would be fine. She would, after all, be with Lexa the whole time. "Starbucks definitely sounds good."

And once Lexa was ready, that's where they headed. It was quiet between them for the first part of the day, and it bothered Clarke that there was any tension between them about her coming to New York with Lexa. She wondered if the brunette thought that Clarke didn't want to, or if she thought that Clarke thought anything weird of it at all.

But the truth was, she was excited. Sure, slightly hesitant to get home later than necessary, but her friends could survive a couple of extra days without her. It was worth the time with Lexa.

So as they sipped Starbucks coffee and tried to eat something for breakfast, Clarke made an effort to break the tension.

"So why are we at Starbucks instead of some way cooler place?" Clarke wondered aloud, looking to her girlfriend.

"I dunno," Lexa answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I should want to eat somewhere that isn't an American franchise on my last full day in Europe... but I'm not really in the Europe mood right now."

"The Europe mood?" An amused smile spread across Clarke's face as she leaned forward a little bit. They were sitting at one of the small Starbucks tables in front of the coffee shop.

Lexa laughed, as if at herself, quietly. "Yeah, I don't know. It's like, I don't want it to be over, but it feels like it already is. Like today doesn't count. You know?"

"No," Clarke admitted. "Still feels a lot like Europe to me." When Lexa chuckled at the response, the blonde continued with, "It helps that everyone here is speaking random languages."

"I think it's mostly German," Lexa offered, smiling fondly at the blonde. "But like... Swiss dialect I guess."

"Okay... whatever that means," Clarke said, raising her left eyebrow and causing her girlfriend to laugh again, exactly what Clarke had wanted. "Either way, you have plenty of time to not feel like you're in Europe when you're actually not. So you might as well keep feeling like you are right now."

"Easier said than done," Lexa insisted, sipping down the last of her coffee and then dropping it in the trashcan next to their table. "But I guess I can try," she decided, amused as Clarke smiled happily in response. They both got up from the table, and the blonde pointedly attached their hands. Lexa's thumb immediately dragged softly across the back of her pale hand, and Clarke smiled to herself. Tension effectively broken.

It was a couple hours worth of picture taking later that Clarke and Lexa found themselves standing along a river – which was more like a stream – that was flowing past them. Lexa was taking photos, as per usual, and Clarke sat herself down on the slightly rocky bank. They were close to the main part of the city, but the area was strangely peaceful nonetheless. Blue eyes followed a gorgeous brunette, who was finally done taking pictures of the area and was moving to sit next to her girlfriend. "Sometimes I wish I could just run away from the real world and come to places like this and hide."

"Well, considering that I basically did that, I think I can tell you from experience that it's actually pretty nice." She flashed the brunette a cheeky smile, and Lexa's checks reddened slightly.

"You got lucky," Lexa claimed, leaning against Clarke slightly.

"Okay, well the alternative is that it sucks, because it never lasts as long as you want it to," Clarke said quietly, her left hand snaking its way over Lexa's shoulder and playing gently with long brown hair. "I think running away from everything was a one time thing for me. I can't get lucky every time."

"You can stay lucky for a while," Lexa said teasingly, turning her head and pressing a soft kiss onto Clarke's unsuspecting lips. The blonde smiled into it, but the contact ended much too quickly. Lexa was standing less than fifteen seconds later. "Well, we should keep going. We only have a couple more hours to go. I promise." She extended a hand down to the blonde, who took it gratefully and pulled herself up.

"Okay," Clarke agreed easily, despite how tired she was. If there was one thing that she wouldn't miss about Europe, it was the constant walking. Though, something told her that she might even miss that once she was back in her normal routine in DC. Whatever that was.

It was the beginning of the evening when they got back to their hotel room, and though they were both exhausted and just about ready to collapse, neither of them wanted the day to end. Clarke dropped her messenger bag onto the floor, retrieving only her phone from it, and sat heavily on the end of the bed. "So... we have anything else planned for the night?" She was hoping that the answer was yes.

"Well," Lexa started, "I would love to take you out again."

Clarke's face lit up, and she laughed to herself as she said, "I owe you so many dates by now."

"Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to repay them all," Lexa said, flashing a wink at the blonde before stepping into the bathroom. Clarke blushed despite herself.

After washing up, the two of them set out to find a place for dinner. They ended up picking out what seemed like a Swiss or Mediterranean seafood place that seemed good. It was a bit crowded, which Clarke took to be a good thing, and once they were seated, the smells around her caused her stomach to growl impatiently.

"Oh god," the blonde murmured, "I'm hungry. Did we ever eat lunch?"

Lexa blinked. "Oh. We didn't."

"Raven would kill me. She gets pissed at me if I miss a meal," Clarke said, huffing slightly.

"Let's just not tell Raven then," Lexa proposed, chuckling.

"I think I can agree to that."

The food at the restaurant was just as good as they'd both hoped, and their dinner itself was easy. There was no more tension, and they talked freely. Clarke found herself unable to believe that she had met Lexa just over two weeks ago. It felt like it could've been a lifetime ago. She felt unbelievably lucky. How had she accidentally set up the most perfect coincidence? She voiced this question to her girlfriend, who almost giggled in response.

"I don't know," the brunette admitted, "but I wouldn't question it. The universe doesn't offer gifts very often."

When their meal came to a close, they walked back to the hotel room hand in hand, silent in the beautiful city, which was lighting up around them. It was only when they were nearing their destination that Clarke murmured, "Lexa..."

"If you're going to thank me," Lexa said, "please don't. We still have a few days together. I don't want it to feel like the end yet."

"I wasn't going to," Clarke promised softly. "I just... never mind. I'll save it for... later."

"Okay."

When they were back in the hotel room, Clarke cuddled up in the bed with Lexa as she organized her pictures, watching the little images move between folders. It was weird seeing the same picture from yesterday earlier. Some of them were significantly different, others remarkably the same aside from the exact tint of the sky or time of day. Clarke found herself entranced, though, and could easily imagine all of the photos up in a gallery. She wanted to see them once they were. That would give her an excuse, or at least a secondary one, to visit Lexa in New York.

She could already picture herself making up many excuses to do just that. Though, maybe Lexa would be excuse enough.

The blonde nearly fell asleep against her girlfriend as she worked, but then her phone began to vibrate from the other end of the bed. Groaning, Clarke pulled herself out Lexa's personal space bubble. Immediately, she felt cold and as if she was missing a necessity.

She answered the phone call. "Hey, Rae."

"Hey, no need to sound all depressed at having to talk to me," Raven teased.

"I"m not," Clarke insisted. "Just tired. How was work?"

"Fine," her best friend replied lamely. "You sure you're okay? You sound particularly down. Everything okay between you and the photographer?"

"Yes," Clarke insisted, trying to brighten her tone. She knew that she should tell Raven that she would be flying out of Europe the next day only to land in New York rather than DC, but she couldn't bring herself to do so now. "And oh hey, I'll be home on Friday."

"Oh my god, really?" Raven asked, sounding suddenly relieved. "It feels so much better knowing a date!"

Clarke smiled sadly as she heard Raven's tone brighten considerably. "Yes! I'm so excited! I'll tell O! We'll have like a surprise welcome back party!"

"It won't be surprise, Rae, you just mentioned it," Clarke said, unable to fight amusement now. "Hey, I really wanna talk to you, babe, but I'm sotired. I wanna cuddle with Lexa and sleep."

"Fine," Raven gave in, though she didn't sound too put off. Clearly, news of Clarke's nearing arrival back in the states had been uplifting to her. "I'll talk to you tomorrow! Love you, C!"

"Love you, too, Raven," Clarke murmured, before hanging up and dropping her phone. She immediately gravitated back toward her girlfriend, curling into the brunette. Lexa was still sitting up, on her computer, but she chuckled softly as Clarke cuddled up into her. Her right hand began to pull its fingers gently through soft, blonde hair, and Clarke's eyelids felt heavy a she drifted into sleep – the last night she would be sleeping in Europe.

Luckily, not the last night she would be sleeping next to Lexa.


	22. Chapter 22

Clarke awoke more smoothly than she had in a while, without any groans or grunts about bright light or lack of a cuddle buddy. Instead, when her eyes open, their gaze fell soft on her girlfriend. Lexa was sound asleep still, her eyelids not even flickering in the slightest. Clarke couldn't resist peppering light kisses across Lexa's cheek, slightly curious to see if she would stir at all from the fluttery contact.

"Mm," Lexa hummed, indeed stirring slightly. "What time is it?"

"I dunno," Clarke murmured, pulling her lips away from Lexa's face as green eyes opened to meet hers. "Probably not too early, considering hownot tired I am."

Lexa didn't say anything as her gaze traced Clarke's face and then landed back on bright blue ones. "You're beautiful," the brunette murmured, before closing the distance between them with a soft kiss. Clarke graciously accepted said kiss, her right hand finding its way to the side of Lexa's face and pushing back some of her hair. When the kiss ended, Clarke couldn't fight her smile.

"Well thanks," she said lightly, nearly giggling at the cute look Lexa was giving her. "We should probably check the time, huh?"

"We do have a flight at three," Lexa answered, though she didn't look interested in moving from their current position. Clarke hummed thoughtfully, her fingers tickling against Lexa's skin as she dragged her hand down her girlfriend's neck and down onto her shoulder. "Whose phone is closer?"

"I dunno," Clarke murmured. She let out a breath, though, and then rolled over. Her phone was sitting quite precariously on the end of the bed, never having been plugged in the previous night. She knew that it was probably almost dead, but she grabbed it and hit the home button. The screen flickered to life, though her battery percentage was at about ten percent. "Eleven."

She was honestly surprised that it was that late already. Perhaps it was all their lost sleep, catching up to them all at once now that it was just about the end of their trip. Clarke suddenly felt her hair pushed aside and soft lips pressing against the nape of her neck. The sigh that escaped her lips was clearly audible, and she felt herself completely relax once Lexa's body was fully pressed against hers, even if they were both clothed. "So we have some time."

"I guess," Clarke murmured in agreement, not sure that she could resist her girlfriend either way. "What time do we have to check out by?"

"One," Lexa replied, "and we should be at the airport by two. Which should work out fine if we leave here before one. So we definitely have time."

Clarke chuckled lightly as she felt long fingers slide under the bottom of her tank top, teasing her skin with soft touches. "Yes, I think we do."

* * *

"It's not my fault that my phone fell under the bed," Clarke huffed, reaching her arm under the bed after finally locating her phone. It was nearing one now, and all of their things were packed up. They'd been searching for Clarke's phone for about ten minutes and, conveniently, they weren't able to call it because it had died.

"How would it be my fault?" Lexa countered, leaning against the wall near the door, ready to go.

"You're the one who practically pushed the whole blanket off of the bed, which is the only reason that my phone fell on the floor in the first place," Clarke accused playfully, grabbing her phone and wondering when she was going to get the chance to charge it. Having one of those fancy portable chargers just about now would be useful, but since she didn't, Clarke just decided that she wouldn't worry about it. No one at home knew that she was flying out anyway.

Yeah, that was probably a bad thing. She made a mental note to take out her laptop – which she hadn't used at all once during her whole trip – to charge her phone on the plane. She'd known that it would come in handy for something.

"Still not my fault," Lexa insisted. "But it'll definitely be your fault if we miss checkout time. Come on."

"I'm coming," Clarke shot back in the same tone, unable to fight the smile appearing on her face as she pocketed her dead phone, slid her arms through her backpack straps, and took hold of the handle on her suitcase. Lexa started out of the hotel room, and Clarke followed in suit. They made it down to the hotel lobby, and Lexa checked them out quickly and with a final swipe of her credit card, and then the two of them were walking out of the hotel. "Told you we'd be fine with time."

"When did you tell me that?" Lexa asked, raising an eyebrow. Clarke pursed her lips.

"Okay, maybe I didn't, but I was thinking it."

Lexa laughed brightly, and Clarke felt herself grinning. She never thought that she'd be in such a good mood as she followed Lexa to the bus stop that would take them to an airplane that would ultimately land them back in America. But the fact was that she was with Lexa, and she couldn't shake how amazing that felt. She had a feeling that the brunette felt similarly. "Sure you were," Lexa chimed, rolling her eyes playfully.

When they reached the bus to take them to the airport, it was about ten after one. By twenty minutes till two, they were getting off of the bus at the Zurich Airport. They were taking a slightly inconvenient and long flight, though one that was definitely cheaper, from Zurich to New York City, with a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. As they made their way through the airport to the location to print their tickets, Lexa explained to Clarke that there wouldn't be time to leave the airport in Iceland, though they would be stuck there for about an hour in between flights. The blonde didn't mind.

When they reached the little booth to print out tickets, she let her girlfriend deal with the machine as she tried to say Reykjavik correctly. Lexa was no help – she just kept laughing and insisting that Clarke was saying it wrong. However, Clarke was sure that Lexa's pronunciation was no better than her own. By the time they were leaving the booth, Clarke had just accepted the fact that neither of them could properly say the capital of Iceland.

Clarke had never been a fan of airports. She could count the number of times she'd flown on an airplane on just one hand, and one of them had been during her trip to London less than three weeks prior. She found airports too confusing. You had to go to certain places in a certain order, and it was almost like you were expected to just know where they were and what to do at each. One of those places asked Clarke for her passport, which she easily provided. Luckily, she had definitely not left that anyway.

Finally, though, they reached their terminal and began going through security. At least Clarke knew how that much of it worked. She slid her shoes off and emptied her pockets, and then slid her laptop out of her backpack. She set all of her things into one of the plastic trays, and then set her backpack and suitcase on the conveyor belt.

Lexa went through the metal detector first, and then Clarke did the same, and five minutes later, all of their stuff was back in their bags and pockets, and after tugging their shoes back on their feet, they were ready to head to the gate.

"I have no idea how I made it to London by myself," Clarke muttered, half to herself though still to Lexa, as the brunette glanced at her curiously. "I barely even remember finding my gate. Actually, now that I think about it, I got to the airport like three hours early, so I probably spent most of my time there trying to figure out where to go."

"Airports are easy," Lexa claimed, nudging the blonde lightly. "There are signs literally everywhere."

"Okay, but that's not helpful for people like me," Clarke claimed. "I'm directionally challenged. Half of the time, after parking my car in a parking lot, I walk out of the store half an hour later and can't remember even which section of the lot I parked it in. I'm the weirdo who walks through it with all my bags and my key in one hand, clicking the little beep button."

Lexa had started laughing halfway through the description, and Clarke found herself flushing slightly.

"Hey, I'm serious!"

"I know," Lexa said, biting down on her lip to keep from laughing anymore, "which makes it even funnier."

"It's not funny!" Clarke squeaked. "One time I showed up an hour late to a party because I couldn't find the apartment building it was at, and I passed it four times and couldn't find the entrance to the parking lot."

Lexa, apparently giving up on trying to contain her amusement, let out a laugh again, and Clarke pouted as best as she could at her girlfriend. Through her giggles, Lexa said, "Come on, Clarke, I'll make sure you don't get lost in the Zurich Airport for the rest of your life."

"Much appreciated," Clarke deadpanned, eliciting another giggle from the brunette. "Lexa! You are laughing at the fact that I could actually get lost in a foreign country!"

"I promise I won't let you," Lexa insisted, her giggles subsiding as she then just grinned. "Come on, we're almost at the gate, and then you can just sit and look pretty and not get lost."

Clarke's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

Lexa batted her eyelashes at the blonde and then laughed again, leaning to the side for a moment to press her lips softly against Clarke's cheek. "Come on."

"Someone's in a good mood," Clarke said, rolling her eyes slightly as she switched which hand she was using to pull her suitcase so that she could now slide her left one into Lexa's free right hand. Neither of them were checking bags – their suitcases were both technically carry-on bags. Pushing the size limit slightly, maybe, but it was cheaper than having a huge suitcase. If they'd had bigger bags than the carry-on bags, their walks from train stations to hotels would've been much more death inducing.

"Well, I don't know about you," Lexa teased, "but I had a pretty good morning."

"Eh, mine was alright."

Lexa rolled her eyes, nudging her girlfriend. "Oh shut up."

"Don't dish it if you can't take it," Clarke replied with a wink, getting another eye roll in response. Lexa veered off toward a gate, where many of the seats in the waiting area were taken. Luckily, there were some empty ones, and the brunette immediately found and claimed two of them. Clarke was right behind her. "Ah, finally, a place to sit."

"We did not walk that much."

"This place is big," Clarke whined, dropping her backpack only somewhat carefully onto the floor before taking a seat, "and my backpack is heavy."

"Quit whining, you'll be stuck on a plane for the next... however many hours," Lexa reminded her, quirking up an eyebrow. "Ugh, these time changes are going to be so weird. I think it's like... Five hours and then six hours? But Iceland is like... two or three hours behind here or something? I honestly don't remember."

"We get there when we get there, I guess," Clarke said, tilting her head slightly as she glanced up at the flight information screen. "Or, just kidding. That thing says we'll get to New York at around nine at night, Eastern Time."

"So, we'll probably get back to my apartment at like... ten. After customs and getting my car. It's in the lot at the airport still," Lexa explained. "And luckily, I actually know where I left it."

"I took a cab to the airport when I left," Clarke admitted. "I don't trust myself. I'd end up walking around the whole fucking parking lot to find my car at an airport." Lexa grinned, clearly still amused. "What's so funny about my direction issues?"

"Nothing." Green eyes sparkled at blue ones. "You're just really cute."

"I'm not," Clarke denied, a blush spreading across her cheeks without her permission. It wouldn't stop even when she willed it to.

"Whatever you say," Lexa singsonged playfully.

It was about twenty minutes later that the plane started boarding, and as soon as Clarke and Lexa were able to, they were rushing onto the plane to their seats. Clarke, personally, just wanted to get situated in her seat as quickly as possible. Plus, she wanted to make sure that her carry-on ended up in an overhead bin that was as close to her seat as she could manage. Lexa seemed to have the same goals, and soon they were shoving their bags up in the overhead bins and sitting in their seats, letting out relieved puffs of air.

That was when it settled. The idea that they were leaving Europe. Clarke let her girlfriend have the window seat – she'd rather lean on the brunette if she was going to fall asleep again – but now her gaze traveled to the little window that looked out over the plain paved ground. But it still counted – they were in Europe. Soon, they'd be flying above Europe. And then... they'd be gone.

When the plane was about to take off, Lexa began shuffling through her purse and retrieved a pack of gum. She offered a piece to the blonde, who took it gratefully. Altitude changes were not friendly to her.

The plane took off just about when it was meant to, after the captain spoke in both German, Icelandic and English about where their destination was. It was kind of weird to hear it all in three different languages, but she supposed that it made sense. When the plane finally did take off, though, Clarke couldn't help it as her blue gaze made its way to the window. She watched the land below them get smaller, chewing her gum to keep her ears from feeling like they were going to implode. She saw Zurich below them, spread out like a typical modern city but still with its olden touch.

But soon they were above the clouds, and any view of any part of Switzerland or Europe was gone.

"Wow," Clarke breathed out. Her girlfriend's eyes had been directed at the same location as hers, but now they moved to look at the blonde. "We're... gone. Just like that."

"Just like that," Lexa agreed, nodding. "I mean, technically Iceland is part of Europe. So."

"So we get another hour to technically be standing in Europe?" Clarke asked, laughing lightly as she smiled at the brunette next to her. Lexa nodded her confirmation, smiling softly. "It's just weird... that it's over. It doesn't feel like it's been long enough for it to be over. But at the same time... it feels like it's been forever. Like there shouldn't even be anything left but this."

"Traveling is a weird thing," Lexa admitted, "but amazing. I hope to travel a lot when I'm older. I mean, I love traveling now, too. But I think I'd like to settle first. I've kind of been jumping between jobs and whatnot over the past few years."

"My job has been the one constant in my life over the past few years," Clarke said in contrast, chuckling. "Everything else has been iffy. I've lived in I think... three different apartments over the past three years? Something like that. So I can understand wanting to settle. I feel a little bad about it, but I'm really hoping that Octavia does move out of her apartment so that I can take over her half of the rent. It would be so much easier than getting my own place. Plus, I literally haven't lived alone in like three and a half years or so. I'm not about that life."

Lexa smiled. "I, on the other hand, haven't ever not lived alone. Well, technically I had a roommate for half of college. But she was gone most of the time, because she only lived on campus because she got a half ride and she had to. She spent most of the time off campus with her boyfriend. So I basically lived alone."

"I hated living alone," Clarke admitted, huffing. "It's so boring and just... yeah."

"I can't say that I disagree with you."

They continued to talk through most of the first flight, and at some point, Clarke got out her laptop to start charging her phone. The device flickered back on after being plugged in for about twenty seconds, but she immediately put it in flight mode afterward. Not much to do on it on the plane anyway.

When they stopped in Reykjavik, it didn't feel much like they were anywhere special. The airport was pretty typical, and they waited in the same terminal for their next flight. They did stop and get something to eat – seeing as all they had eaten during the whole first part of the day was snacks on the flight. By the time they were done eating, they were about to board their second and last flight.

This was was far more tiring, because their brains were telling them that it was time to go to bed, but the clock was telling them otherwise. Lexa fell asleep against the window of the plane, and Clarke fell asleep against her. It wasn't the comfiest arrangement, but it was better than nothing.

They actually arrived in New York City at about eight-thirty, and Clarke found herself waking up once the seat belt light flickered on. She watched the state of New York passing below them as they got lower and lower, and smiled at how it felt on one hand familiar, and on the other, still new. She'd been to New York before, but that had been a few years prior and this still felt exciting – she was going to stay with Lexa.

Lexa, who she had to carefully nudge awake as the plane landed, seemed very tired when they landed. She didn't say much as they unloaded their things from the plane, but once they were in the airport, she took hold of Clarke's hand firmly. The blonde stayed equally silent – she was tired as well – and definitely didn't mind the handhold.

Customs didn't take as long as the blonde imagined it would, which was nice, and since they didn't have to go through baggage claim or wait for any sort of transportation, they immediately headed out of the parking lot area. Lexa, somehow, had been able to park her car in the first lot, so it was easy to get to. The car was nothing special, Clarke noted, though she could hardly identify what it was. She wasn't very into cars at all.

It was strange. Sitting in the passenger seat of a car she'd never been in, but it feeling somehow normal just because it was Lexa's. The car smelled like the brunette, and was nice and neat like Clarke could've imagined it would've been.

The brunette drove them out of the airport and more to the center of New York City. Clarke couldn't tell where exactly they ended up, because she definitely didn't know where each part of New York was But at some point, they stopped at an apartment building. Her building had a parking garage, and the blonde figured that she had purchased a parking space inside. Considering that the car ended up parked snugly between two other cars, Clarke assumed that she'd been correct.

When they reached Lexa's apartment, the brunette let out a breath. "Well, here we are," she said, fumbling with her keys and then unlocking the door. She let Clarke step into the room first, and the blonde did so, her eyes scanning the apartment as Lexa hit the light switch. It was neat and clean, unlike Clarke's usual apartments. "This is nice," she commented.

"Thanks... it's okay. I'm tired," Lexa murmured.

Clarke chuckled. "Then let's get you to sleep, babe," she suggested helpfully. Lexa nodded in agreement and then led Clarke to one of the doors in the apartment that led to her bedroom. This room was less perfectly neat than the rest of it, with a few things out of order around on the shelves Lexa had lining her walls. There were also little clusters of photos pinned up on the wall.

What caught the blonde's attention particularly, considering her jet lag, was the giant bed in the middle of the room. If there was anything that Lexa had indulged in with her inherited money, it was this bed. It was a king size, easily, and looked so fucking comfortable that Clarke just about fell on top of it right then and there.

Instead, she allowed herself to set down her things and accepted Lexa's offer of using the bathroom first. She brushed her teeth and washed her face and tied her hair up into a lazy bun, and then she relinquished the bathroom to her girlfriend. While Lexa was in the room, she wandered to the brunette's closet. Clarke's suitcase of clothing was all in need of a wash, and she wanted something comfy to sleep in.

She ended up snagging an NYU hoodie and some sweatpants, changing quickly and then crawling into Lexa's bed. It was as comfortable as it looked.

Lexa came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and went to her closet. A moment later, she whined, "Did you take my hoodie?"

Clarke hesitated. "No?"

"Ugh, fine," the brunette murmured, and after a minute of her shuffling around and probably changing, the lights in the room flickered off and Clarke felt her girlfriend slide into the other side of the bed.

"I love your bed," Clarke murmured, cuddling close to her girlfriend. "Goodnight, Lexa."

Lexa wrapped her arms securely around the blonde and murmured sleepily, "Goodnight, Clarke."


	23. Chapter 23

Clarke woke up feeling cold despite the hoodie and sweats she was wearing, and she knew why as soon as she extended her arms across the mattress and felt no one next to her. Groaning, she murmured, "Lexa?" Hearing no response, she forced her eyes opened and immediately closed them again when she noticed light streaming through a window that she hadn't noticed was in the room the previous night. Huffing, she sat herself up and glanced around, getting her bearings. Her gaze caught on her phone, plugged in neatly and set on the nightstand next to her. She didn't remember plugging it in, so she assumed that Lexa had done it.

She grabbed it curiously, and saw that she had a text from her girlfriend.

 **From Lexa – I completely forgot to mention yesterday that I have to go to the gallery this morning and show them all my digital photos! I'm sorry! Make yourself at home, I'll be back sometime around lunch. I'll bring you food.**

Clarke smiled appreciatively at the text, but she suddenly felt very out of place in Lexa's apartment without the brunette. Looking at the other notifications on her phone, trying to keep herself occupied, she noticed that she had a text from Raven as well.

 **From Rae Bae – WHY YOU NO CALL?**

 **From Rae Bae – I tried calling you three times, no response, twelve hour timer starting now.**

It had been eleven hours since the text had been sent – it was just nine in the morning. Clarke felt like she could use even more sleep, but she knew that was just the jet lag getting to her. Unprepared for whatever conversation was about to be had, she hit the call button next to her best friend's contact.

It was Wednesday, so Clarke didn't particularly expect her best friend to pick up, but she knew that if she didn't call, Raven might actually start freaking out.

Despite her expectation, though, the phone was answered after only a few rings. "Hey, C!"

"Oh, I didn't expect you pick up. Don't you have work?"

"Working later than normal again today," Raven admitted. "I had to run my car to the shop this morning, and now I'm just waiting for them to fix whatever the fuck in it keeps making sketchy noises while I'm trying to drive. Should be done pretty soon and then I'm on my way to work. Anyway, you're calling earlier than normal. Europe not providing the usual distraction?"

"Actually, I just woke up," Clarke admitted, her heart beat picking up as she prepared to tell her best friend that she was, actually, back in the US. Just... not in DC.

"Wait, what? Isn't it like... past noon there?"

"Well," she started, shakily. "I'm... not in Europe anymore."

"Whoa, hold up, Griffin!" Raven exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"Uh... New York City?"

"What!" It wasn't a question, just an exclamation. "Why didn't you tell me that you were flying back yesterday? When did Lexa ask you to go back to New York with her?"

"Couple days ago," Clarke replied. "I don't know why I didn't mention it."

"You thought I'd be mad, didn't you?"

"Maybe," the blonde admitted.

Raven just let out a breath. "I don't know, it's nice to know that you're closer. But I do wish you were back already. When are you coming back? You said girls' night on Saturday."

"Yeah, for sure," Clarke said. "I'll be back Friday. Ah, Lexa is going to drive me back."

"Ooh! We get to meet her in person!" Raven squeaked excitedly. "Yes! How much hotter is she in person?"

"Your gay is showing, Rae." Clarke smirked. "Also, stop ogling at my girlfriend."

Raven laughed brightly. "I'm excited to meet her, C. She actually helped you get out of your funk, I need to bow down to her. No one's ever been able to get Clarke Griffin out of a funk."

"How many funks have I been in?" Clarke asked pointedly, and when Raven just let out a "hmph", she laughed.

"So where are you?"

"Lexa's apartment," the blonde answered. "She had to go to the gallery where her photos are going to be this morning. So I'm just here waiting until she gets back. It's a nice place, but I have no idea what to do by myself while she's gone."

"Look through all her things. Steal her clothes," Raven suggested.

"Rae!"

"What? That's what I would do if I was dating someone," Raven insisted. "She lives alone?"

"Yep," Clarke answered.

"Because she's loaded?"

Blue eyes rolled with annoyance. "I'm sure she'd be living alone whether or not she had money from her grandparents. She got a full ride to NYU you know?"

"Ooh, hot and smart," Raven teased. "Looks like you got yourself a keeper, babe."

"Hopefully," Clarke agreed, smiling softly. "I... can't imagine coming home though. I mean, I can, but it's going to be weird. When she's here, and I'm in DC."

"It's what, four or five hours of a drive? You guys can make weekend trips all the time."

"I work weekends, Raven," the blonde reminded her, "and so does Lexa, I'm pretty sure. And she may not need to work every weekend, but if I'm going to help pay for any sort of living expense, I'm going to need as much as work as possible at the bar."

"You can crash here for free, you know that," Raven reminded her.

"I know, but I don't want to take advantage of you guys for so long. Don't worry, I'll figure something out," Clarke promised. "It'll all work out. Everything. Living situations, work situations... relationship situations. It has to all work out. I'm not ready for something else to go really wrong."

"You deserve for things to go your way, babe," Raven insisted. "And by the way, I was talking to O last night. She feels bad about what she said on Face Time the other day. She said that she tried to call you yesterday... but well, now I know why you didn't answer."

"Yeah, my phone was on flight mode for most of the day. Actually, I don't think I ever took it off. Lexa must have – she plugged my phone in this morning I'm pretty sure," Clarke explained. "And I'm not mad at O. It's just... sometimes she and I butt heads. And it's not like I don't understand where she's coming from, it's that I feel like she forgets the less pragmatic side of the issue. You know?"

"Yeah," Raven agreed. "But you know her. She's blunt and bold and honest and that's why we love her."

"True." Clarke smiled. "Is she working right now?"

"Yeah," Raven replied, "but she gets off for lunch at like eleven-thirty or so, if you want to call her then. Or you could just wait until tonight. I guess it hardly matters now – you're in the same timezone as us again anyway."

"Yeah. But I'm going to be super bored for the next couple of hours until Lexa gets back."

"Why don't you go explore New York?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "I don't even know where I am in New York City right now. Not to mention, I have no car and very little cash. Whatever was left of it I converted into dollars when I got back last night, but I'm pretty sure the wad is dwindling. Plus, I really would rather not get lost in the city and then have to get Lexa to come and find me."

"Oh yeah, good point," Raven agreed. "Well, if you don't want to do that or snoop around Lexa's things, I have nothing else to offer. But hey, the shop just finished up with my car, so I need to head to work. I'll talk to you later!"

"Bye, Rae," Clarke said just as the line ended, and Clarke dropped her phone onto the bed next to her. She trailed her gaze across Lexa's room, at the photos on her wall, wondering what she should do. Finally, though, she made a decision. Well, her stomach mostly made it, growling loudly into the empty air.

"Lexa better have food in here," Clarke muttered to herself, grabbing her phone as she touched her feet down on the cold floor. It was laminate, she thought, and it was practically freezing compared to her warm skin. Shivering, she crossed her arms over her chest, cuddling herself into Lexa's hoodie, and made her way out of the bedroom.

In the kitchen, Clarke swung open the refrigerator door and was relieved to see many different foods lining the shelves. There weren't really any easy to eat foods, but she managed to find enough materials to create a sandwich for herself.

The blonde ended up going back to sleep, blaming it on the jet lag once she woke up at noon. Lexa was still not back, so Clarke picked up her phone and readied herself to call Octavia.

The phone rang only once before it was answered. "Clarke! Thank goodness. Rae thought you died or something."

"Nope, I'm alive," Clarke promised, smiling to herself. "Have you talked to Raven this morning?"

"No," she replied, "she had to take her car into the shop."

"Yeah, I spoke to her," Clarke explained. "I heard you tried to call me last night."

"I did," Octavia said, sucking in a breath. "I wanted to apologize for that stupid comment I made while we were Face Timing. You obviously couldn't have been working during that time – you were down for perfectly justifiable reasons, and then obviously I'm not upset or salty about you going to Europe. I think it's good for you, and so is Lexa. And I didn't mean to devalue any of the stuff that's happened in the past few weeks."

"I know, O," Clarke insisted. She'd let Octavia finish because trying to interrupt the brunette was hardly ever even possible. "I'm not angry with you. Seriously, I get it. And you and I are used to butting heads sometimes. It's really perfectly okay."

The breath that her friend let out was one of pure relief. "Thank goodness. Okay. Good. And hey wait, why are you calling so early? Shouldn't you be out exploring the world of... what, Switzerland still?"

"I'm in New York," Clarke stated bluntly. There was no point in beating around the bush.

"What?" Octavia demanded. "You're back in the US? Since when?"

"We flew in last night," Clarke admitted. She was sitting again in Lexa's bed, since that was where she had taken her few hour nap after eating her sandwich. She tucked her feet snugly under her body, chilly for some reason despite the clothing she was wearing. "I'm staying with Lexa until Friday. She's going to drive me back down to DC."

"You're like... at her house or something?"

"Her apartment, yeah," the blonde answered, glancing around it again. It felt so weird, now that she was thinking about it. All of this time, she'd basically been living with Lexa. But never had she been in a place that was Lexa's. Surrounded by a place that Lexa spent probably a lot of her time, Clarke felt like she shouldn't be allowed in.

But she knew that Lexa would want her in. That's why she was here, after all. "Well... cool, I guess. We get to meet her when she drives you down?"

"Yes," Clarke promised. "And then you and Rae and I are doing a girls' night on Saturday. Don't make plans with Lincoln."

"Aw, we were gonna go see a movie," Octavia whined.

"Hey, if I have to start being long distance with my girlfriend, I think you can manage one night away from your boyfriend," Clarke teased, though saying the words out loud actually pained her slightly. Octavia didn't seem to notice.

"Alright, alright, fine. But you're on your own with Raven on Friday night, because I'm just moving my Saturday plans to then."

"Works," Clarke agreed.

"Hey, my lunch break is just about over, so I'm gonna have to let you go. Have fun in NY with Lexa!" Octavia chimed.

"Alright, have fun at work," Clarke offered in response, and then the call ended.

Now, Clarke was really at a loss for what to do. She was no longer tired, and she couldn't call up either of her friends. She assumed that Lexa would be back soon, but she didn't want to just sit in the bed and wait. So she hopped up from the bed and went into Lexa's bathroom. It was a decent size, and clean and tidy just like the rest of the apartment.

She brushed her teeth and showered quickly, using Lexa's shampoo and body wash since she was too lazy to go dig out her own from her suitcase. Then she blow dried her hair and toweled off her body. Picking up the discarded sweats and hoodie she'd been wearing before, she left the bathroom completely naked. She left the clothing on the bed and then went to Lexa's closet again.

She meant to just grab normal clothes or pajamas and then be done with it, but her gaze suddenly fell to a shelf covered in neatly folded underwear. She couldn't say that she was surprised when she caught a few sets of lingerie in the mix. However, she found herself biting her lip as she glanced at it. Carefully picking one of the sets up, one that was just deep black, she tilted her head slightly. Then she couldn't help but be tempted, and she slid the articles of underwear onto her own body. They fit fairly well, despite them being Lexa's.

She hadn't really intended to keep the set on, but she suddenly heard the front door unlock and open. "Clarke?" a voice called. It was Lexa's of course, and Clarke's heart skipped a beat as she realized that she was about to be caught trying on Lexa's lingerie. "I brought food!"

"I'm in here," Clarke called, her voice lower than she had expected it to be. Perhaps it was the lingerie, putting her into a certain mood. She heard shuffling in the main room of the apartment, probably Lexa setting down the food, and then the bedroom door opened. Lexa's eyes immediately caught onto Clarke, who was now leaning slightly against the door frame of Lexa's closet.

"Oh," Lexa gasped, her eyes immediately stuck onto the blonde's body.

"I was bored," Clarke admitted shyly. "I was just gonna temporarily steal something to wear, but... Sorry."

"It's okay," Lexa insisted, forcing her gaze up to meet Clarke's. The blonde was now smirking slightly. "Did you... um..." Her gaze kept slipping down below Clarke's face. "Ah, did you eat something yet?"

"I made a sandwich a few hours ago."

"Are you hungry right now?"

"Not for food," Clarke replied, biting down on her lower lip as she watched green eyes darken.

"You sure it's just a coincidence that you put on my lingerie just as I was coming in?"

"I'm sure," Clarke insisted. "A lucky coincidence, though."

"You feeling lucky?" Lexa asked, shifting her weight slightly as she raised an eyebrow. Clarke batted her eyelashes.

"Maybe." She stretched out the word with intent, pushing herself off of the door frame and taking a few steps closer to the brunette. Lexa took steps of her own and they came together in a soft embrace. "I missed you this morning." Clarke hadn't expected herself to voice that thought, but she wasn't surprised when she did. Her eyes were focused on Lexa's lips, and her hands, on Lexa's hips, were fiddling with the fabric of her shirt.

"I'm sorry," Lexa apologized quietly.

"It's okay," Clarke insisted, smiling as she gently began to push Lexa's jacket off of her body. The brunette dropped her arms to allow it to fall onto the ground. "We can make up for lost time."

"Mm, how do you think we should do that?" Lexa all but purred out, and Clarke nearly groaned just hearing her voice sound like that.

"First," she said instead, her hands roaming back down to the bottom of Lexa's shirt, "I think that you need to be wearing less clothing."

"Clearly, you got that memo before me," Lexa teased, but a moment later her shirt was being pulled up over her head swiftly and quickly. She lifted her arms helpfully, and then Clarke let the shirt fall away lamely. Lexa reached down and began to slide off her own pants, catching on to the fact that Clarke was not dilly-dallying. When they were both standing in the same amount of clothing, with just their underwear and bra on, Clarke backed Lexa toward and then onto her bed, where she finally joined their lips together in a hot, sensual kiss.

Lexa hummed against her lips, and Clarke didn't know if she could wait. All of the sudden, she just really wanted to taste her girlfriend, and she didn't feel like teasing. Once Lexa was laying on the edge of the bed, Clarke moved swiftly from her position on top of her down to the a crouched one on the floor. She didn't hesitate as she dragged Lexa's underwear down and tossed it away carelessly. She pushed the brunette's thighs apart, exposing her center, and moaned as she looked at it. Lexa was wet already.

Clarke's lips met Lexa's lower ones abruptly, and a gasp was ripped from her girlfriend's throat. The sound fueled Clarke's determination, and Lexa was soon moaning and squirming and rocking her hips all at once. By that point, Clarke had two fingers inside her girlfriend as well, and she moved them quickly and intently. Lexa was coming around her fingers only minutes later.

"Fuck," Lexa breathed out when she came, her body stilling its movements and relaxing against the bed. Her breaths were heavy and uneven, and Clarke pulled out of her girlfriend carefully before standing and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down fondly at Lexa. When green eyes were on her, she brought the same two fingers to her lips and slid them into her mouth, sucking them purposefully. "Clarke," Lexa moaned, biting down on her lower lip.

The blonde just smirked a little, dropping her hand. "So what'd you get for lunch?" She hopped up from the bed, making her way toward the door connecting Lexa's bedroom with the main area of the apartment. She was still wearing her lingerie, and she could feel Lexa's eyes on her.

Before she could make it all the way to the kitchen, however, two hands gripped her waist from behind, and her back was pulled flush with Lexa's front. Her bra had apparently been disposed of somehow in the handful of seconds that had passed. "Clarke," Lexa growled.

"Mm?" Clarke couldn't form words now, she was focusing too hard on the feeling of Lexa's peeked nipples touching her back.

"We're not done."

"Okay," Clarke felt herself practically moan out. Lexa's hands, still firmly on her waist, turned the blonde around to face her. Clarke waited expectantly for their lips to meet, but Lexa just hovered in front of her, their eyes searching each other's gaze. Finally, though, they came together in a fast paced, passionate kiss, and Lexa's hands dropped to Clarke's ass, only about half covered by the lingerie she was still wearing.

The blonde moaned instantly at the touch. She was being backed up into the kitchen, and only when she felt the cold counter touch her back did Lexa's hands drop any lower. They gripped the back of Clarke's thighs and hoisted the blonde up so suddenly that she let out a loud gasp into Lexa's mouth. She was sitting suddenly on the cold kitchen counter, and soft hands were pulling her underwear off of her body.

"You're gonna need to clean this counter," Clarke barely managed to moan out as Lexa's lips began to trail down onto her neck. She whimpered as she leaned backwards, her back meeting the wall. Lexa's hands were now higher, disconnecting the clasp on the back of Clarke's bra and tossing the offending piece of clothing aside.

The cold counter becoming slightly bothersome, Clarke's fingers wound into Lexa's hair and gently guided her back up to join their lips together, and then she pushed forward, sliding off of the counter. Lexa seemed to understand why, and she instead turned them in order to pin Clarke against the wall instead.

Lexa's hands dragged across Clarke's burning skin, down her chest and her midsection and then coming to her center. Clarke moaned as two fingers slid through her wet folds, and she began to rock her hips desperately.

"Lexa," Clarke moaned, and Lexa silenced her with a solid kiss to her lips, sliding her tongue into Clarke's mouth. Something about every one of her actions screamed possession, and Clarke couldn't be more okay with that. It almost made up for the fact that they would be separated by miles and miles in a handful of days.

Clarke felt herself coming close pretty soon, and her breaths began to come more and more unevenly until Lexa had to release her mouth to allow her to properly facilitate air into her lungs. Just as she was reaching her climax, and a loud yelp was escaping her lips, a door suddenly opened and someone said, "Hey, Lexa, I –"

Clarke's mouth immediately snapped shut and her eyes shot open. Lexa's fingers had stilled inside of her. "Anya, get the fuck out!" Lexa yelled, her body shifting slightly so as to cover Clarke's entirely if Anya was even looking in their direction.

Clarke's face was completely reddened as her gaze caught on the woman who had just walked in. She was frozen in place, her eyes wide. "Oh... I see now why you said not Wednesday."

"Anya!" Lexa exclaimed, looking over her shoulder with what Clarke supposed was a glare.

"Yeah... ah, I'm just gonna step outside while you two... yeah." She disappeared out the door and it closed loudly.

"Well," Clarke said dejectedly, "there goes my turn."

Lexa's fingers were now pulling carefully out of the blonde, who was practically pouting. Lexa leaned softly into her girlfriend, her lips pressing tentatively against Clarke's. When she pulled away, she murmured, "You'll get your turn tonight. As many times as you want."

Clarke moaned as she heard the words, and she might've finished climaxing just from hearing them. She didn't, though, and she had to accept that she would be waiting until that night. "Fine," she muttered, and Lexa backed away afterward.

"I'm sorry. I told her not to come here until tomorrow," Lexa said, looking guilty now.

"It's okay," Clarke insisted, even though she was frustrated. It was mostly sexual frustration, so it wasn't like she was mad at Lexa. "I mean... ah well, I should probably take another shower... a cold one... and you should clean off your counter... and I should pick up these." She grabbed the lingerie that had been discarded in the kitchen.

Lexa gave her an apologetic smile. "Tonight. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," Clarke said lightly, smiling. She went into Lexa's room to deposit the lingerie in the now growing pile of clothing that she had stolen from Lexa and worn. She then slipped into the bathroom as she heard Lexa come into the bedroom.

It was fifteen minutes later that Clarke had finally showered, gotten herself to the point that she didn't feel like she could come just by looking at her girlfriend, and found clothes to change into. Since her suitcase was full of unwashed clothes, she was still wearing Lexa's. She didn't think the brunette minded at all.

When she was dressed, though, she grabbed her phone from the bed and exited the bedroom. Lexa was leaning against the counter in her kitchen, fully dressed now and presumably cleaned up as well. The woman from before – Anya – was standing across the kitchen, a paper cup of coffee, which she must've had when she'd come in, in one of her hands. "Hello," Clarke offered somewhat awkwardly as the conversation between the two women dropped off when Clarke entered.

"Hi," Anya returned, looking with interest at the blonde. "Clarke, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah," Clarke answered, her cheeks flushing again as she recalled what Anya had walked in on.

Lexa seemed to tense the awkwardness, and she smiled a little. "Anya has very little understanding of the days of the week, so apparently to her, Thursday comes before Wednesday."

Anya rolled her eyes. "I just knew you had your gallery meeting this morning and I don't know, I didn't think you two would be fucking in the middle of your kitchen at like one in the afternoon."

"Speaking of the time," Clarke muttered, coughing awkwardly. "Food?"

Lexa smiled softly and gestured to the little table she had in the space between her living area and her kitchen. On the table was a bag from Subway. Clarke's face lit up as she made her way to it. As she did, Anya started talking. "Um, so. You're from DC?"

"Yeah," Clarke answered, much more relaxed once she was unwrapping her Subway sandwich. The three of them were silent for a moment, and then Lexa's best friend huffed.

"Okay, I officially made this really awkward," she muttered.

Despite the truth in her statement, rest of the day wasn't completely awkward. After a few more three sentence conversations and awkward pauses, they began to actually engage in real conversation. It was easy, mostly because of Lexa. Anya proceeded to ask Clarke the tough questions.

The first: "What do you do for a living?"

"Uh... I mix drinks. I'm a bartender."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You don't look like a bartender."

Lexa bit down on her lower lip. "That's what I said."

Clarke huffed. "But she gets it now. Because I actually got her to drink and enjoy a cocktail for once."

"Wait, you got her to stop only drinking wine?" Anya demanded, gaping. Clarke smiled and nodded proudly, and Lexa groaned, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't that good."

"Shut up," Clarke said playfully, "you loved it."

The next: "Do you live by yourself?"

"Um... currently I don't really live anywhere?"

"Uh..."

"Bad breakup, conveniently lost my whole apartment in the midst of it," Clarke answered, waving her hand dismissively. "I... guess I'm going to be staying with my friends when I get back?"

The last: "So, if you just got out of a relationship with someone, why are you dating Lexa so quickly?"

Lexa groaned. "Anya..."

"Hey, it's an important thing to know," Anya snapped, crossing her arms and flashing a pointed look at the brunette.

"It's fine," Clarke insisted, shrugging. By now, she was done with her sandwich. "The guy who dumped me... well, I guess I was starting to check out of our relationship before we actually broke up. He's kind of an asshole. Of course, I hardly realized that at the time. But it hit me kind of hard, because he basically kicked me out of my apartment and it was around the anniversary of my father's death... and I almost lost my job, and then I just kind of packed up and went to London. Which is where I met Lexa, obviously. And... she just somehow made it better. Which is completely unbelievable, considering that my best friend of like... thirteen years couldn't even get me off of her couch."

Lexa's cheeks were flushed slightly, and Clarke realized that she had never actually straight up told Lexa that. It was sort of just a given, or it at least felt like it should've been.

Anya hummed thoughtfully, and then let out a little puff of air. "Okay, I approve. You can keep her, Lex."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Anya."

"So... you guys up for a movie or something?"

Clarke and Lexa ended up letting Anya drag them both out, and Clarke got to see New York City for the first time in a handful of years. She had gone at some point during college, with Raven and Octavia on the spur of a moment, but hadn't stayed long. The city was incredible, of course, as she remembered it. Fast moving and slightly terrifying. She knew that that was why Lexa liked it so much. She liked big cities – Clarke knew that much.

The blonde herself didn't mind the city. It was definitely something that was an exciting experience away from her normal life. The city in Washington DC wasn't the same. However, Clarke preferred the quieter style of the city. She wasn't big on downtown areas.

Aside from just dragging them around the city, Anya also convinced them to go to a movie with her. It was fun, actually, hanging out with Lexa and Anya. Lexa's best friend wasn't much like the brunette herself, but she was nice and thoughtful and she approved of Clarke, which the blonde figured wasn't a make or break thing, but was good nonetheless.

After the movie, Anya headed off home with a goodbye to Clarke in case she didn't see her again before she went back to DC, and then Lexa offered to take Clarke out to dinner. The blonde had huffed and admitted that it bothered her slightly that Lexa had taken her out every time they'd gone out. Subsequently, she ended up Google mapping a place to take her girlfriend, and paid for it in full. It felt good to do. She wanted to treat her girlfriend, and even though Lexa was much more monetarily stable, she didn't argue at all.

Clarke loved that.

Lexa understood, and it was just incredible.

And when they got back to Lexa's apartment that night, the brunette went to shower and Clarke followed her, reminding her of the promise she'd made earlier. And they spent far too much time, in the shower and out of the shower, feeling each other's bodies and making each other moan and scream and gasp. Far too much time, and yet not enough.

Thursday was lazier.

They spent half of Thursday laying in Lexa's bed, holding each other and cuddling and talking quietly. Talking about the things they wanted in life, the things they used to want and how they'd changed. Clarke learned that Lexa wanted a family one day, and Clarke admitted that she hadn't thought about that in years. She realized that while she'd been with Finn, all of her goals regarding families or anything of the like had dissolved. As if they'd seemed impossible. They didn't anymore.

She didn't say that, though. It felt too soon.

Lexa told Clarke more about her parents – how she saw them at least once a year, and during only one year since her high school graduation had she seen them more than once. She admitted that she called them every now and then, but that it didn't really matter. They weren't close.

Clarke told Lexa about her parents. Her dad, who had been one of the biggest influences on her life as a teenager, who she missed desperately. But also about her mom, who despite the differences they had sometimes, got along quite well. She told Lexa about her mom's house, the house she'd grown up in, that felt like a connection to her dad. She admitted that stashed away in a box, she had over a hundred different sketches of the front of that house. It was a peaceful pastime to draw it.

Lexa told Clarke that she first picked up a camera to take pictures when she was about twelve. She described the feeling that she got in her chest when she took one that seemed to replicate the feeling of the subject, rather than just the way it looked. She admitted that she wasn't used to taking pictures of people, because they were always somehow far too dull compared to in person. When Clarke asked why Lexa liked to take pictures of her, the brunette responded only with a soft kiss and a murmur of something unintelligible and somehow still adorable.

After half a day of lazing in bed, Lexa ordered Chinese takeout for the both of them and then purposefully went to one of her shelves and retrieved a DVD case. When Clarke questioned what it was, green eyes glinted mischievously in a way that made Clarke feel invigorated and excited and full of adrenaline.

Until she found out that the movie was Princess Bride.

Still, she found herself sitting through the whole movie, curled into Lexa as they ate Chinese takeout on her comfy couch in front of her flat screen TV. Clarke had to admit that it was better watching it with Lexa than it was with Raven. Raven was a movie talker, Lexa wasn't. That somehow didn't surprise the blonde at all.

After that movie, they debated watching another one, and instead opted to open up Netflix. They scanned through the newest additions to the site and then decided that none were satisfactory enough, so they started Orange Is The New Black from episode one, even though both of them had seen all of it, and binged as much of it as they could fit into their evening. Clarke raided Lexa's fridge during it, and they sprawled across the couch in the living room, watching the show and eating food and talking.

And by the time that Clarke was curling into Lexa that night, dressed again in the brunette's hoodie but without any pants on, her legs warmed thoroughly by being tangled with Lexa's under the covers, Clarke was sure that this had been the best day of her entire life.


	24. Chapter 24

"Clarke," Lexa groaned, pulling the blonde out of her sleep, "your phone keeps going off."

"What time is it?" Clarke asked, burying her face further into the pillow under her. It smelled like Lexa, as did the whole bed in its entirety anyway.

"I don't know," Lexa muttered, and as Clarke opened her eyes, she saw the brunette pulling the blanket up higher and over her head. She couldn't help but smile at that – Lexa was entirely too adorable.

The sound of her phone going off again made her smile drop off of her face, though, and she turned and grabbed her phone off of the side table as it rang with a phone call from none other than Raven. It was eight in the morning, and Clarke groaned as she answered the call with a short, "What?"

"Good morning to you too!" Raven chimed, seemingly uncaring about the fact that she'd just woken the blonde up. "I'm on my way to work. Any idea what time you'll be back? I'll get off early if it's going to be before three."

"I don't know, Rae. How much notice do you need to get off early?"

"An hour at least. You mean you don't already know?"

Clarke tried not to roll her eyes, but she couldn't help it. "No, Raven. I just woke up."

"Oh," her best friend said, apparently unaware. "Well. You should get here before three so that I can have an excuse to leave early. I'm not feeling the work thing today."

"We'll leave when we leave," Clarke muttered. "I'm pretty sure my ride is a little too tired right now to drive me." She glanced down at Lexa, who was no longer hiding under the blanket now that the phone wasn't going off. She definitely wasn't fully asleep, but her eyes were closed, and Clarke dropped her right hand and gently began to play with brown hair that was splayed all around her. Lexa's face relaxed completely as she did so.

"So drag your ride out of bed," Raven pleaded. "Come on, I wanna get off."

"So take off, Rae," Clarke suggested, letting out a puff of air. "I'm not... rushing to get home."

There was a pause, and then Raven let out a breath. "No, I know. I'm sorry. I... guess I kind of forgot what you coming back means. As far as going into long distance and stuff. Sorry."

"It's fine," Clarke insisted. "I'll text you when we have an ETA, okay?"

"Deal," Raven agreed. "Okay, I'm at the firm, so I gotta go. You guys drive safe when you leave!"

"Of course," Clarke said, "see you later, Rae." The line ended, and Clarke set her phone back on the nightstand and then leaned against the headboard behind her. Lexa's eyes opened, looking up at her.

"Lay back down," she pleaded, frowning.

Clarke obliged, sliding back down under the blanket and facing her girlfriend. Their gazes met evenly, and it was as if they were waiting for the other to start talking. Finally, Clarke gave in and spoke first. "She wanted to know what time I would be back in DC."

"Mmhmm."

"Are you okay?"

Lexa let out a sigh and her gaze fell, but Clarke's hand rose and gently touched the brunette's cheek, causing her to look up again. "I'm okay," Lexa promised, before hesitating for a second and then adding, "I just... miss you already."

"Me too," Clarke murmured softly. "But we should savor today, like yesterday. I don't want it to be over until it's over."

"I wish I could just ask you to stay here with me," Lexa murmured, her voice quiet and shy, something that Clarke wasn't used to hearing from her girlfriend. "But there are so many more implications that come with asking you to stay rather than just to come."

Clarke smiled softly, and then she smirked involuntarily. "I can't tell if a sexual reference was meant in that."

Lexa let out a light laugh, shaking her head. "Clarke, I'm serious."

"I know," the blonde murmured. "Part of me wishes I could stay here too, Lexa. But... I can't. I have so many things waiting for me at home in DC. These past three weeks with you have been quite possibly the best time of my life... ever. You saved me, Lexa. You may not know it, because you didn't see me the days before I went to London. But if you ask Raven or anyone... the minute I met you, I started to light back up after being dark for longer than I'd ever been before. And my feelings for you are so strong... but I can't stay away from home forever."

"I know," Lexa murmured, her gaze dropping again. "I just... I'm so used to sleeping next to you and having your presence just... around... possibly so much so that it could be considered pathetic. I don't know what it's going to be like to be suddenly away from you."

"Hard," Clarke answered, quiet. "But we can do it... this is too important for us to not try. We are too important."

Lexa smiled softly, nodding.

The next hour was spent getting up and getting ready. Lexa sneaked into Clarke's shower, and though they did nothing other than just shower, it was nice to be so close to her girlfriend. Clarke knew that she was going to miss that. A lot. Clarke had to throw on the cleanest of her clothes, which she realized she probably should've washed at some point while she'd been in Lexa's apartment. She was sure that the building had to have a washer and drier.

She wanted to steal Lexa's hoodie, but she didn't, because it was Lexa's NYU hoodie, and she clearly loved it. Plus, she told herself that she wouldn't steal any of Lexa's clothes, or else Raven would say something like 'I told you!'.

Once they were ready and Clarke's stuff was all packed – though she hadn't unpacked much of anything while there – Lexa made them both eggs and toast. They sat quietly through breakfast, though despite the fact that it should've been a depressing and helpless silence, it was calming.

What wasn't calming was when Clarke grabbed her suitcase and her backpack – which Lexa ended up carrying in order to be helpful – and they made their way out of Lexa's apartment and down to the parking garage where her car was. They stuffed the blonde's things into trunk of the car and then Clarke got into the passenger seat. Before they drove out, Lexa sent a text to Anya to let her know that she was leaving for DC, and then they were off.

They started the drive off quiet, which Clarke kind of expected, but then the blonde took in a deep breath and decided to make good on what she'd said earlier that morning. She didn't want it to be over until it was over – their time together. So she put on a smile and turned her head to look at her girlfriend. "You know, after all of the train rides we had in Europe, four hours doesn't seem like that long of a drive."

"There's that Acela Express speed rail thing that makes it only take three hours to get from New York to DC," Lexa said. "It's not like we're going to worlds apart..."

"Thank goodness, I don't think I could handle worlds of distance," Clarke said lightly, flashing a smile at the brunette. She was pleased when a smile spread across Lexa's face as well. "So. What are you normal road trip games?"

Lexa laughed. "What?"

"Like... I Spy? Or like twenty questions? Anything?"

Lexa looked thoroughly amused. "I don't know. I don't generally go on road trips. I think I went on one when I was a kid, but I hardly remember it."

"What!" Clarke exclaimed, gaping. "No way, road trips are awesome! My dad used to take me on spontaneous road trips. It used to piss my mom off. I'd get home from school on a Friday, and he'd just be like 'Hey, let's go to this place, or that place'... and then we'd pack up and leave and come back Saturday night. Most of the time my mom had to stay for work, but she came a few times. She was much less upset about it on the times that she could actually come."

"That's sweet," Lexa commented. "I guess I've never really had a lot of people to road trip with."

"After my dad died, the only road trips I really went on were with Raven. And O, once we met her in college," Clarke explained.

"You said you got your bachelor's degree in political science, right?" Lexa asked, and Clarke nodded her confirmation. "Where did you guys go to college?"

"Oh, just UDC," Clarke replied, shrugging. "Nothing too cool. Rae and I wanted to stay close to home, and we both got into UDC, so. She majored in some tech thing though, of course. She's really such a nerd."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she works as like head of the IT department at a law firm," Clarke said. "On the bright side, if I ever have any technology problems, she always has the magic solution. I couldn't ever deal with technology for my job. I'm perfectly content mixing drinks."

"Are you excited to go back to work?"

"Yeah," Clarke admitted, smiling softly. "I do actually miss making drinks. They also apparently temporarily replaced me with some dimwit, so I'm excited to fix the reputation of the bar I work at. Since he's probably wrecked it somewhat." Lexa laughed brightly at the bluntness of the statement, and Clarke found herself biting on her lower lip. Lexa's laugh never failed to make her smile. "What about you, excited to go back to work?"

"No," Lexa answered, huffing. "If I could work full time as a photographer, I would be so much happier. I hate my job at the museum."

"So get a new job," Clarke suggested, tilting her head a little.

Lexa sighed. "Yeah, I should. I don't know... I don't really need a full time job, but if I don't work enough, I'm going to catch up to my money and then I will really have to work full time in a couple of years. I'd rather work full time now and keep saving. You know?"

"Yeah," Clarke agreed, nodding, "I get that. But I'm sure you could find other full time jobs that you'd like more than working at a museum. It sucks that you have to be stuck working a place that you hate."

"Not everyone can be lucky enough to love what they do," Lexa teased lightly, flashing the blonde a smile. "I just keep hoping that some opportunity to make photography my full time job will pop up. But I have a certain type of photos I like to take, and I know I shouldn't be picky... but I am."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Clarke insisted. "But hey, why are you working at an art museum out of all the museums in New York? Wouldn't a history museum by way more up your alley?"

"Yeah," Lexa answered, shrugging. "The job at the museum as never meant to be permanent. It just... became permanent. If I could travel the world taking pictures as my job... now that would be the perfect job."

"Somehow," Clarke started jokingly, "I don't have a hard time picturing that."

Lexa smiled widely. "I want the next place I go to to be Italy."

"I'd probably eat way too much food if I went to Italy," Clarke admitted, letting out an amused puff of air. "But I'd love to see it."

"I can picture you in Italy," Lexa admitted. "I mean, based on pictures I've seen of course. I haven't been."

"I'd go if you went," Clarke declared. "If I ever went by myself, I'd end up like I was when I was in London – wandering completely aimlessly."

"Until some random woman came up to you and offered to take you on a trip around Europe?"

"Exactly," Clarke said, winking at her girlfriend as she laughed.

"You know, going to Europe this time around... compared to when I first went, was so entirely different. A billion times more amazing. I didn't think it could be. But... maybe it was just because I had company, or because you were my company... and you filled me with passion, and passion is what I need to take amazing pictures. I don't know what to pinpoint it as exactly, but I just... thank you for coming with me, Clarke. The past three weeks have easily been the best of my life, too." A green gaze bounced away from the road for a moment in order to pass a sidelong glance to the blonde, who met it with a soft blue one.

"I should be the one thanking you, Lexa."

"How about," Lexa started, "we both just thank each other now, and then don't anymore. At least, not about Europe. Because I don't feel as though you should thank me, and you don't feel as though I should thank you."

"Deal," Clarke agreed.

From that point on, they talked about whatever came to their minds. They made a stop two hours into the road trip at a gas station, where Clarke purchased a bag of gummy worms that she proceeded to snack on over the next hour of the road trip. During that hour, she made Lexa play twenty questions with her. They'd picked that over I Spy so that Lexa could drive without having to look around for things.

Clarke barely remembered an hour before their arrival time to text Raven, and she did so as soon as she realized that she'd forgotten. She also shot the same text to Octavia.

 **To Rae Bae & Octapussy – Will be in DC in an hour. Guess I'm going to your guys' place first? Not really anywhere else to drop my stuff anyway.**

 **From Rae Bae – YES! TAKING OFF EARLY! SEE YOU MONDAY YOU CRAZY LAWYER WEIRDOS!**

 **From Octapussy – I'll be working for a couple more hours, but Raven should be back at the apartment by the time you guys get there. Your stuff is all still stacked next to the couch, C.**

 **To Rae Bae & Octapussy – Thanks! I'll see you both soon!**

Clarke's nerves grew as they got closer and closer to DC. She was actually nervous to see her friends again for the first time in person. She almost feared that despite the phone calls, texts and video chats, they would still be extremely angry with her. She was nervous to see her mom again, because she was sure that she was in for some sort of lecture. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing her mom until Sunday, though.

Ultimately, though, she was nervous to be back in DC because that meant that she was at her home, which was not Lexa's home.

She knew that she was lucky that Lexa turned out to live so close to where she did, but four hours felt too far still. Four hours was the length of a trip from Luxembourg City to Zurich. It was an hour longer than the train ride from Paris to Brussels. Twice the length of time it took to get from Brussels to Amsterdam.

But it was shorter than the train ride from Amsterdam to Berlin, and from Berlin to Oberwesel.

She couldn't help but compare it to all of those distances. They were distances she was familiar with. She'd spent the time on the train, experiencing what it was like to wake up in one city and fall asleep in another.

When they reached DC, Clarke felt a rush of mixed feelings reach her. On one hand, she felt strangely warm and fuzzy, being back. It was a feeling that she'd never thought she'd get about her home city. She'd never considered it one of her favorite places. But it was home. On the other hand, it was nervousness and sadness.

Despite her usual problem with directions, she had a good feel for DC, considering how long she'd lived there. She was able to direct Lexa to Raven and Octavia's apartment building without much difficulty.

The building had its own parking garage area, and both Raven and Octavia had their own parking space, but there was a small visitor parking lot as well. It was hardly ever full, and now was not an exception.

When the car was stopped, Clarke found herself unable to move for a moment. "This feels so weird."

Lexa flashed her a curious look. "Being back?"

"Yeah... last time I was here... it was just different. I felt different. I feel different," Clarke admitted. She took a deep breath. "Might as well go in, though. Rae is gonna have a heart attack if I take any longer."

They both opened their respective doors and Lexa popped the trunk. Clarke grabbed her things and started to leave Lexa into the apartment building and up to her best friends' apartment. As she approached the door, another wave of mixed feelings surrounded her. She'd been more depressed than every before the last time she'd been there – laying on the couch like it was the only place she could possibly be without dying dramatically or something.

Her heart was racing nervously as she knocked on the door. She heard Raven call loudly from another room, and the blonde rolled her eyes, grabbing the door handle and turning it. Sure enough, it was open. She let herself in.

"Well, this is their place," Clarke said, looking to Lexa. It was about the size of Lexa's apartment in total, with two smaller bedrooms and a slightly smaller living area than Lexa's.

"It's nice," Lexa commented. Clarke dropped her backpack on the couch and released the handle of her suitcase as Lexa shut the door behind them, and then Raven appeared from her bedroom.

"Clarke Jane Griffin, you fucking idiot!" Raven exclaimed, practically running from her doorway and throwing her arms around her best friend. Clarke just about got the wind knocked out of her before wrapping her own arms around the brunette. "I spent half an hour debating whether or not to hug you or slap you when you got back. You're actually lucky you waited so long, I was more tempted to slap you during the first week you were gone."

"Hello to you too, Rae," Clarke said, laughing lightly. "You're gonna have to let go, you know? I kind of have to like... breathe."

Raven released her hold and stepped back, taking in a deep breath. Her eyes moved over to where Lexa was standing, not really awkwardly, but a few feet away. "Ah, it's the hot photographer in person!" she squealed excitedly. "Nice to meet you for real. I'm Raven, but you of course knew that already."

"Nice to meet you too," Lexa agreed, smiling and looking slightly amused at the title that Raven had dubbed her with. "I'm half expecting to hear a series of comments about mine and Clarke's sex life, though." She raised her eyebrow in mock concern.

Raven scoffed. "I'm not that weird in person."

"No, she is," Clarke insisted, shaking her head. "Don't let her fool you."

"Please, I'm an angel."

"Devil."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm not the one who ignores her best friend in order to have sex for hours and hours in some fancy castle hotel."

Lexa was laughing by now at the two. Clarke crossed her arms indignantly and her cheeks flushed slightly pink as she did.

Raven smiled proudly. "So, O gets off in an hour, and I know that she wants to meet Lexa before she goes on her movie date with Lincoln. But I just left work and I'm starving, so I vote that we go get food."

Clarke looked to Lexa to make sure that was okay with her, and the brunette answered with, "Works for me, though Clarke ate a whole bag of gummy bears on the way here, so..."

"Gummy worms," Clarke corrected, smiling slightly. "Food sounds awesome, though, let's go!"

Before they left, Clarke changed into completely fresh and clean clothes, and then they went out to a sandwich place that was a usual spot for Clarke and her friends, which was within walking distance. She, her girlfriend and her best friend sat around a table there, talking lightly. It was easy conversation, of course, probably since the two brunettes were the people that Clarke could talk to the easiest. It was as easy if not easier to talk to Lexa as it was to talk to Raven, which was incredible considering the lengths of time that she'd known the both of them. She figured it was a good sign, though.

Lexa endured similar questioning that Clarke had with Anya, but the brunette handled it well. Even when Raven asked her, completely inappropriately, about money, and Clarke kicked her under the table. Lexa had answered anyway, explaining the whole situation regarding her money, even though Clarke was sure that she'd mentioned it all to Raven beforehand.

Octavia sent Raven and Clarke both a text when she got off of work, and they let her know where they were at. The third brunette joined them about fifteen minutes after the three of them had finished their food and had just been talking.

As soon as Octavia entered the little cafe, she basically let out a breath of relief. As though she thought that Clarke would somehow not actually be there. "Welcome back, C!"

"Thanks," Clarke said, smiling at her friend as she got up to give her a hug. When they pulled apart, Octavia took the last seat at the table and immediately looked at Lexa.

"And it's nice to meet you, Lexa. Even though we've seen your face before, I had a hard time believing that you were real. You seemed to good to be true," Octavia admitted, and Raven nodded in agreement.

"You both are creepily obsessed with my girlfriend," Clarke joked, "stop it."

"I just meant because she got you to actually switch out of your state of eternal wallowing," Octavia rolled her eyes, though a smile was playing on her face. "Raven, though... yeah, she's creepily obsessed."

"No I'm not," Raven insisted, huffing. "Just because Lexa's hot and I recognize that doesn't mean that I'm creepily obsessed."

Lexa was fighting laughter, and she let out only a small chuckle before saying, "It's nice to meet you too, Octavia. You guys aren't really any different in person than you were over the phone."

"They're very two dimensional, that's why," Clarke teased, getting scoffs from both of her best friends.

They only spent about another half hour at the sandwich place before Octavia claimed that she had to go meet Lincoln. Meanwhile, Clarke, Lexa and Raven headed back to the apartment.

"When do you have to leave?" Clarke found herself asking her girlfriend as they walked. Raven was silent next to them as the conversation started.

"Soon... probably when we get back," Lexa admitted. "Most of my pictures will have been printed by tomorrow, so I have to go pick them all up and bring them over to the gallery. And that's going to be pretty early tomorrow, so I'm gonna need to sleep at a reasonable time."

"Oh," Clarke murmured quietly, her gaze dropping down to wear her hand was holding tight to Lexa's. "Okay."

They remained silent as they walked the rest of the way to the apartment building, but Lexa said that she probably didn't have the time to go back up. Raven said a brief goodbye to her before going up to the apartment to give her best friend a moment alone with the photographer.

"I'm... really going to miss you, babe," Clarke murmured, her hand playing gently with Lexa's fingers.

"I know, me too," Lexa said softly. "But we can talk everyday, okay? It'll be like reverse Europe – you'll be with your friends and you better call me everyday." She said it with a hint of humor, and Clarke felt herself smiling despite everything.

"Okay."

"And it's not hard to get from here to NY, or from there to here," Lexa insisted, "so we don't have to be apart all of the time."

"Yeah."

Lexa leaned forward, brushing her lips lightly against Clarke's. The blonde deepened the kiss without a second thought, but it had to end almost as quickly as it started.

"Lexa," Clarke breathed out, "thank you."

"We said we weren't thanking each other anymore," Lexa reminded her, her voice sweet and sad.

"I know, but... if you hadn't asked me to come with you, we wouldn't even have this... Thinking of it that way makes it easier to accept that we live in two different places. It could be a lot worse. I could've never gotten to know and ended up coming home after being in London for two days, only to keep being in an awful place in my life. And you would've been alone and sad in Europe. And... I'm just grateful that we have this," Clarke said, smiling. "And even though I'm going to miss you... it won't be forever, right? We won't be apart forever. And I know we'll make it work."

"We'll make it work," Lexa repeated, stealing another quick kiss. "And you're right, we have plenty to be happy about despite what we have to be sad about."

"Lexa..." Clarke swallowed thickly. "I've thought a lot over the past three weeks about feelings. Because they're weird, and at first, I felt like I shouldn't feel anything for you. Obviously I did, though, and it never seemed like anything too harmful. And it didn't turn out to be, which is amazing and lucky. But it also turned out to be way more than I expected, and... it's only been three weeks, which is fucking ridiculous. It feels like I've spent a lifetime with you," her words were becoming rushed and almost molded together, "and I guess that's because we have spent almost every minute of the past three weeks together, and it is way more effective to develop feelings for someone that way. It's not the same as going on a few dates a week, because we were basically living with each other... and you introduced me to the world and to the way I should always feel – excited and with adrenaline for what is next to come. And I'm saying all of this because I feel like I need to justify what I feel like I need to say, because I didn't know if I should, but I know that I need to because if you get into your car and leave before I admit it... I just... I don't know what I'd do. But Lexa, I love you."

Lexa's green eyes were sparkling, and she cupped Clarke's cheek suddenly and pulled her into a deep kiss. Clarke hummed contently into it, and when they separated, the brunette murmured, "I love you, too, Clarke. I love everything I've learned about you over the past three weeks. I love the way you make me feel. I loved spending my time in Europe with you. I love the fact that the first thing you ever said to me was thank you, because I'd just pretended to be your girlfriend to get some random to stop annoying you. And now, three weeks later, I am your girlfriend and... it's totally weird and crazy, but. I love you."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Clarke's heart was racing, and she was smiling as she wrapped Lexa into a tight hug. "Drive safely, okay?"

"Of course."

"And call me when you get home."

Lexa laughed lightly. "I will. I promise." When their arms fell to their sides, Lexa took a step toward the parking area. "I should go."

"Go," Clarke said quietly, smiling. Lexa took a few steps away, before turning back, and the blonde grinned playfully. "You're not about to say 'Come with me' again, are you?"

"Not this time," Lexa called back, laughing. "I love you, Clarke."

"Love you too, babe."

And with that, Lexa turned on her heel and made her way to and into her car. Clarke watched as it pulled out of the parking lot and then drove off, and her heart sank and swelled at the same time. Lexa going back to New York was, on one hand, heartbreaking, but knowing that it wasn't over, and that Lexa loved her, was almost enough to balance out the sadness.

Clarke made her way up to Raven and Octavia's apartment, and when she entered, Raven immediately pulled her into a hug. Clarke was grateful, melting into her best friend's embrace. "I miss her already," Clarke murmured.

"I know, babe."

"I love her, Raven."

"You told her that, right?"

"I did," Clarke confirmed, smiling. "I think we'll be okay."

"You guys will definitely be okay," Raven promised, pulling away from the blonde to look at her directly. "Lexa seems amazing. And I'm not creepily attracted to your girlfriend or anything, I'm just saying."

Clarke laughed lightly. "I know, Rae."

"She's perfect for you," Raven stated. "And I say that without even knowing her very well. I just know that your face is lit up when she's around or when you're talking about her. Just like your voice did over the phone. She brings out the side of you that's been covered by the negative lately. And she makes you adventurous and excited and that's amazing. I think you guys will make it. I'd bet my whole career."

A goofy grin spread across the blonde's face. "Really? Your whole career?"

"Yep," Raven answered, giving her a lopsided smile. "Totally."

Clarke's smile softened now. "Thanks, Rae."

It was that night, a couple hours after Lexa had called her briefly to tell her that she got home okay, when Clarke was curled up on the couch in her friends' apartment staring up at the ceiling, that all of her European journey replayed through her head.

She saw herself scoffing at a random guy on the bus, only to have him disappear a moment later with Lexa's arrival onto the bus. She saw herself standing in the glass pod at the top of the London Eye, and Lexa pulling her into the group picture a few minutes later. She saw Lexa asking her to dinner. She saw Lexa asking her to come with her to Paris. She saw them standing on the Eiffel Tower, herself sipping champagne as Lexa snapped pictures of her without her knowing. She pictured their first kiss by the Seine. She saw them in Brussels, checking out the ridiculous but somehow awesome statues of little people peeing. She saw them in Brugge, surrounded by peacefulness and silence. She could visualize their first time together, in the hotel room in Brussels. She saw them in Amsterdam, tipsy and taking cute selfies. She saw them in Berlin, rushing around and exploring. She saw Oberwesel, and the amazing castle they stayed in with the beautiful green garden and the tiny little town itself. She saw Vianden and the tree covered hills and the fortress nestled on top of one, and sitting next to Lexa on the chair lift. She saw Zurich, the brightness of it and the finality of being there, the last city on Lexa's list. She saw all of it, with New York to top it off, and as she began to drift asleep, she saw the one commonality, the highlight of it all, the continuity she never wanted to change.

She saw Lexa, and she could still hear her words from nearly three weeks prior, with hesitant confidence in her voice as she accidentally started something amazing and unexpected. The three words that echoed through Clarke's head as she was absorbed into sleep. "Come with me."

* * *

 **And, that's a wrap! I will start posting the sequel here tomorrow! :D For some reason, it always surprises me how many people read only on here and not on Ao3, but then I guess it makes sense, considering that I don't read as much on here anymore unless someone sends me a link to something I should read. But of course, I'd like to give as many people the opportunity to read my stories, so I will continue my tradition of cross posting when my stories are complete. Stay With Me will be up tomorrow.**

 **I've started a brand new story on Ao3 called Pristine. If you don't wanna read it over there, I will of course post it here when it is finished. :)**

 **Love you all, hope you all have a lovely day/night! *hearts*xx**


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